\ 


CENTENARY  PAPERS 
AND  OTHERS 


CENTENARY  PAPERS 

AND  OTHERS 


BY 

DAVID    PHILIPSON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
AUTHOR  OF  THE  REFORM  MOVEMENT  IN  JUDAISM,  ETC. 


CINCINNATI 

ARK  PUBLISHING  CO. 
1919 


COPYRIGHT  1919 

BY 
ARK  PUBLISHING  CO. 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THE  MEMORY  OF  JUDAISM'S  MASTER  BUILDER 
ISAAC  MAYER  WISE 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  CENTENARY  OF  HIS  BIRTH 


2094883 


PREFACE 

The  first  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century 
witnessed  the  birth  of  the  men  who  became  the 
great  pioneer  leaders  of  the  progressive  movement  in 
Judaism  popularly  known  as  Reform  Judaism.  The 
centenaries  of  these  men  have  been  appropriately 
celebrated  as  they  occurred  one  after  the  other. 
The  present  year  1919  marks  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  man  who  though  the 
last  born  of  the  celebrated  group  who  gave  shape  to 
this  movement  became  the  best  known  of  them  all, 
particularly  on  the  American  continent.  The  cen- 
tenary will  be  observed  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  United  States.  In  the  nature  of  the 
case  these  celebrations  will  be  of  a  more  or  less  passing 
character.  The  desire  to  mark  the  occasion  by  a 
more  permanent  memorial  has  induced  me  to  publish 
this  volume  in  memory  of  my  great  teacher,  friend 
and  colleague. 

The  essays  included  in  the  volume  deal  with  the 
themes  to  which  Dr.  Wise's  blessed  activity  of  over 
half  a  century  was  chiefly  devoted,  namely,  Reform 
Judaism  and  Americanism.  A  score  of  years  lack- 
ing one  has  elapsed  since  the  great  rabbi  joined  the 
immortals.  During  these  nineteen  years  the  prin- 
ciples of  Reform  Judaism  which  he  taught  so  con- 
stantly and  championed  so  valiantly  have  been 
assailed  as  bitterly  as  in  the  birth  years  of  the  move- 
ment. This  centenary  season  can  therefore  be  em- 


PREFACE 

ployed  to  no  better  purpose  than  to  publish  forth  the 
foundations  of  belief  and  interpretation  whereon  the 
famous  leaders,  Isaac  M.  Wise  and  his  contemporaries 
erected  the  structure  of  liberal  Judaism.  Such  is 
the  purpose  of  the  four  centenary  papers  and  the 
essay  on  the  principles  and  achievements  of  the 
Centra)  Conference  of  American  Rabbis. 

The  closing  papers  in  this  volume,  with  one  excep- 
tion, the  last,  center  about  the  general  theme  Ameri- 
canism. They  consist  of  addresses  delivered  on 
notable  occasions.  The  great  role  which  the  United 
States  is  now  playing  as  a  leader  in  the  movement 
for  world  freedom  brings  into  strong  relief  the  under- 
lying principles  on  which  the  republic  rests.  Among 
these  underlying  principles  none  is  of  greater  moment 
than  religious  freedom.  Because  of  this  religious 
freedom  the  progressive  movement  in  Judaism  found 
its  real  field  for  development  in  the  United  States. 
These  essays  are  therefore  chapters  in  the  story  of 
Judaism's  development  under  freedom  and  notably 
in  this  country.  Isaac  Mayer  Wise  was  the  embodi- 
ment of  what  reform  Judaism  and  Americanism 
represent. 

DAVID  PHILIPSON. 

Cincinnati,  March,  1919. 


CONTENTS 

Isaac  Mayer  Wise  1819-1919 11 

Samuel  Holdheim  1806-1906 63 

Abraham  Geiger  1810-1910 99 

Max  Lilienthal  1815-1915 149 

The  Principles  and  Achievements  of  the  Central  Conference 

of  American  Rabbis  1889-1913 191 

"Like  Priest,  Like  People"  (Conference  Sermon) , 229 

"We  Can  Prevail" 247 

Israel,  the  International  People 263 

The  Debt  and  Duty  of  the  Jews  to  the  United  States 281 

America's  Entrance  Into  the  War 301 

Are  the  Germans  the  Chosen  People? 305 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE 
1819-1919 

THE  reform  movement  in  Judaism  has  flourished 
in  the  United  States  as  in  no  other  country. 
Germany  was  the  land  of  its  birth,  but  the  United 
States  has  been  the  sphere  of  its  development  and 
progress.  When  Israel  Jacobson  dedicated  the  first 
reform  Synagogue  in  1810,  an  enthusiastic  writer  of 
the  time  hailed  this  event  as  the  Festival  of  the  Jewish 
Reformation.  Although  this  designation  was  bom- 
bastic and  unjustified,  still  that  dedication  marks  the 
beginning  of  reform  as  a  practical  achievement  in 
Jewry.  But  religious  reform  was  only  one  aspect  of 
the  new  life  upon  which  the  Jews  were  entering.  It 
was  the  religious  counterpart  of  the  movements  for 
the  political  and  educational  emancipation  of  the 
Jews.  Political  emancipation  transformed  the  Ghetto 
Jew  into  a  citizen  of  a  fatherland,  educational  emanci- 
pation changed  the  cheder-Jew  into  a  man  of  modern 
culture,  religious  emancipation  transmuted  the  schul- 
chan  anikh  Jew  into  the  reformer  for  whom  Judaism 
spelt  universalism  and  not  Orientalism,  prophetism 
and  not  rabbinism,  world-wide  citizenship  and  not 
Palestinianism.  Religious  reform  then  was  not  an 
isolated  phenomenon.  Had  not  the  French  Revolu- 
tion sounded  the  tocsin  of  freedom  for  the  Jews  of 
Western  Europe,  had  not  the  modern  spirit  working 
through  Mendelssohn  and  his  school  made  the  Jews 

11 


12  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

of  Germany  familiar  with  the  intellectual  output  of  the 
Kants,  the  Lessings,  the  Schillers,  and  the  Goethes, 
there  would  have  been  no  movement  for  religious 
reform;  just  as  Ghettoism,  chederism  and  rabbinism 
form  the  three-fold  product  of  mediaevalism,  so  do 
political  freedom,  modern  education  and  religious 
reform  constitute  the  triple  effect  of  the  modern  spirit 
which  began  to  breathe  upon  the  world  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  rabbis  of  the  old  school  who  put  the  ban 
upon  Mendelssohn's  German  translation  of  the 
Pentateuch,  who  excommunicated  Wessely  because 
of  his  efforts  to  introduce  secular  education  among  his 
co-religionists,  and  who  frowned  upon  the  strivings 
for  civil  emancipation  were  thoroughly  consistent; 
they  recognized  that  the  acquisition  of  knowledge 
other  than  that  imparted  in  the  Hebrew  schools  and 
the  participation  of  the  Jews  in  the  political  life  of 
the  world  meant  the  death  blow  to  rabbinic-halakhic 
Judaism.  They  scented  the  danger  and  tried  to 
avert  it  by  every  means  in  their  power;  but  all  in 
vain.  The  old  order  which  they  represented  was 
passing.  Jew  and  Judaism  were  entering  upon  a  new 
stage.  Judaism  had  to  adapt  itself  to  the  new  life 
and  the  new  surroundings  if  it  was  to  continue  to 
mean  something  for  the  Jew.  Thousands  had  turned 
from  it  or  grown  indifferent  because  the  religion 
in  its  rabbinic  interpretation  had  ceased  to  appeal 
to  and  satisfy  the  larger  outlook  which  freedom  had 
brought.  There  was  an  undeniable  conflict  between 
Judaism  and  life.  The  recognition  of  this  conflict 
gave  rise  to  the  reform  movement.  The  needs  of  the 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  13 

time  became  imperative  with  the  leaders  whose  eyes 
were  open  to  the  signs  of  the  times.  It  was  claimed 
and  proven  that  there  had  always  been  freedom  of 
thought  in  Judaism.  Geiger  and  others  with  him 
framed  and  defended  the  thesis  of  development  in 
Judaism. 

What  a  seething  time  those  early  years  of  the 
reform  movement  were!  What  an  era  of  storm  and 
stress!  Life  was  pressing  on  all  sides.  Institutions, 
practices,  ceremonies  and  laws  considered  sacred  for 
centuries  were  being  disregarded  because  the  life  of 
the  world  which  the  Jews  were  leading  made  their 
observance  impossible;  if  Judaism  meant  only  these 
things  then  surely  it  was  passing  and  would  soon  be 
no  more;  but  great  thinkers  and  rabbis  like  Geiger, 
Holdheim,  Einhorn,  Samuel  Hirsch,  the  Adlers, 
Philippson,  Stein  and  others  showed  that  the  faith  in 
its  essence  was  a  great  deal  more ;  they  accentuated  the 
eternal, spiritual , prophetic, universalistic and  messianic 
aspect  as  the  true  Judaism  which  in  different  ages  and 
lands  assumed  varying  aspects,  and  now  that  entirely 
new  conditions  confronted  them  the  faith  had  to  be 
interpreted  accordingly.  I  have  not  the  space  here 
to  discuss  the  philosophy  and  theology  of  the  reform 
movement  nor  its  history.  Sufficient  to  say  that  it 
has  a  philosophy  despite  the  claim  of  its  opponents 
that  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  convenience,  sufficient 
to  indicate  that  it  has  a  theology  despite  the  remark 
of  the  caustic  critic  who  said  that  when  a  Jewish 
peddler  ate  a  ham  sandwich  reform  Judaism  was  born, 
as  though  mere  convenience  and  the  disregard  for 
some  traditional  customs  constituted  the  whole  of 


14  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  reform  movement.  Nay,  reform  is  not  a  system 
of  pale  negations,  it  has  its  positive  constructive  side 
which  accentuates  the  universal  import  of  the  re- 
ligious truths  preached  and  expounded  in  Judaism 
from  the  days  of  the  prophets,  and  which  though 
hidden  temporarily  beneath  an  encrustation  of  en- 
veloping forms  and  ceremonies  only  needed  to  shed 
these  accretions  in  order  to  shine  forth  undimmed  as 
ever. 

It  is  usually  and  rightly  held  that  reform  in  Judaism 
in  this  country  was  directly  connected  with  the 
efforts  put  forth  in  Germany  in  this  direction,  and 
that  notably  the  Hamburg  Temple  movement  was 
mirrored  in  the  earliest  effort  for  religious  reform  in 
this  country  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  The 
same  causes  produced  the  same  effects  in  Hamburg 
and  Berlin  on  the  other  side,  and  in  Charleston  on 
this  side.  It  was  essentially  the  spirit  of  freedom 
here  and  abroad  which  breathing  upon  the  dry  bones 
of  Judaism  bade  them  live  again;  the  era  of  freedom 
was  the  new  Ezekiel  summoning  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  to  revivify  the  house  of  Israel.  The  initial 
effort  toward  reform  in  this  country,  however,  did  not 
flourish  as  did  the  similar  movement  in  Hamburg, 
particularly  because  there  was  as  yet  no  competent 
leader  to  direct  the  work;  the  forty-seven  Jews  of 
Charleston  who  signed  the  first  petition  to  the 
Congregation  in  1824,  requesting  reforms  in  the 
service  formed  a  fine  nucleus  and  would  have  ac- 
complished much  had  there  been  at  that  time  in 
Charleston  a  theologian  of  broad  learning  and  strong 
personality  who  would  have  been  able  to  give  the 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  15 


movement  the  authority  and  distinction  which  only 
learning  and  personal  force  can  impart ;  the  movement 
languished  despite  the  splendid  efforts  of  Isaac 
Harby,  the  member  of  the  congregation  who  was  the 
guiding  spirit  among  the  petitioners.  The  election 
of  Gustav  Poznanski  in  1835  as  minister  of  the 
Congregation  gave  new  inspiration  to  the  reform 
element  and  really  brought  the  Charleston  movement 
into  line  with  the  Hamburg  reform  Congregation,  for 
Poznanski  had  come  from  that  city  and  brought  into 
his  work  in  the  new  world  the  ideas  he  had  imbibed 
before  leaving  the  Hanseatic  town. 

In  1843  the  Har  Sinai  Congregation  of  Baltimore 
was  incorporated  as  a  reform  congregation  and  in 
1845  the  Emanuel  Congregation  of  New  York.  The 
organization  of  these  two  pioneer  reform  congregations 
was  really  the  beginning  of  the  free  and  full  development 
that  the  spirit  of  Judaism  was  to  experience  in  this 
land.  Here  the  conditions  were  altogether  different 
than  in  Europe.  There  were  no  restrictions.  There 
were  no  communal  or  congregational  traditions 
There  was  no  governmental  interference.  True,  the 
Jews  who  emigrated  hither  brought  with  them  the 
traditions  they  had  received  from  their  fathers  and  at 
first  European  religious  conditions  were  simply 
transplanted.  There  were  many  Judaisms  repre- 
sented in  the  various  congregations  that  were  organ- 
ized ;  there  were  Polish  congregations,  Dutch  congre- 
gations, Hungarian  congregations,  English  congrega- 
tions, German  congregations,  many  geographical 
Judaisms,  if  I  may  use  that  term;  but  although 
traditional  customs  and  mediaeval  conceptions  were 


16  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

thus  transplanted,  such  a  condition  of  things  could 
not  last  here.  The  American  spirit  was  pervasive 
and  the  Jew  could  not  but  be  affected  by  that  spirit 
in  his  religion  as  he  was  in  every  other  interest  in  life. 
America  had  to  produce  an  American  Judaism,  and  it 
did  produce  an  American  Judaism.  This  term  is  fre- 
quently declared  to  be  paradoxical  and  unmeaning 
and  we  who  use  it  are  accused  of  introducing  an  un- 
warranted and  unjustifiable  element  of  differentiation 
into  the  general  conception  of  Judaism.  But  it 
requires  only  a  moment's  consideration  to  recognize 
that  what  we  call  American  Judaism  is  something  as 
distinctive  as  were  Palestinian  Judaism  and  Hellen- 
istic Judaism  of  old,  as  was  Babylonian  Judaism  in 
the  early  Christian  centuries,  as  were  Spanish  and 
Russian  Judaism  in  later  days;  if  it  is  legitimate  to  use 
these  modifying  adjectives  to  define  various  broad 
tendencies  in  Jewish  thought  and  development  in 
these  different  lands  and  ages  past,  it  is  no  less 
legitimate  to  use  the  term  American  Judaism  now, 
for  it,  too,  has  a  distinct  and  definite  meaning. 
American  Judaism  is  the  latest  expression  that  the 
prophetic  spirit  of  universal  religion  has  assumed. 

Broadly  speaking,  there  have  always  been  two 
streams  of  thought  in  Judaism,  prophetism  versus 
ritualism,  Hellenistic  versus  Palestinian  Judaism, 
the  broad  thinkers  among  the  rabbis  of  old,  the 
Hillelites,  the  Johanan  ben  Zakkais,  the  Akibas,  the 
Joshua  ben  Chananyahs,  the  Meirs,  versus  the 
Shammaites,  the  Eliezer  ben  Hyrkanos,  the  Tarfons, 
and  among  later  thinkers  the  Leo  da  Modenas,  the 
Solomo  del  Medigos,  the  Joseph  Albos  versus  the 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  17 

Asheris,  the  Raawads,  the  Joseph  Karos,  and  as  a 
matter  of  course,  the  orthodox  versus  the  reformers 
since  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century.  True, 
owing  to  the  circumstances  of  Jewish  life  during  the 
Christian  centuries  the  freer  movements  of  thought 
which  of  old  had  flowered  so  gloriously  in  prophetism 
and  Hellenistic  Judaism  could  not  receive  full  swing, 
but  when  the  revolutions  which  inaugurated  the 
modern  era  made  of  the  Jew  a  free  man,  the  spirit  of 
Judaism  soared  once  more  into  the  regions  of  universal 
thought  and  religion.  And  this  is  American  Judaism; 
a  reassertion  of  the  world  embracing  ideas  and  the 
world  enveloping  hopes  of  ethical  monotheism,  an 
optimistic  outlook  toward  the  messianic  age,  a  sub- 
stitution of  prophetic  vision  for  legalism  and  me- 
diaevalism,  a  fearless  propagandism  of  the  message 
that  God's  revelation  is  continuous,  and  therefore 
religion,  the  embodiment  of  that  revelation  must 
adapt  its  teachings  and  its  methods  to  the  changing 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  successive  ages  of  the 
world  to  whom  God  speaks  as  surely  as  ever  He  did 
in  ages  past.  American  Judaism  is  possible  because 
of  the  free  American  spirit;  the  breadth  of  thought 
that  American  Judaism  represents  shall  dominate  the 
future  unless  the  prophets  of  the  race  have  babbled 
vain  things.  I  have  not  said  American  Reform 
Judaism,  but  American  Judaism,  for  the  two  will  be, 
if  they  are  not  yet,  identical;  mediaeval  orthodoxy 
and  traditionalism  can  not  long  flourish  here;  the 
future  belongs  to  reform  despite  present  opposing 
phenomena  in  the  Jewish  religious  world;  but  of  this 
I  shall  have  more  to  say  later  on. 


18  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

It  was  an  extremely  fortunate  circumstance  that  at 
the  time  when  the  reform  agitation  was  beginning  in 
the  United  States  there  were  competent  men  here 
to  take  the  helm  of  leadership.  True,  the  Baltimore 
and  New  York  congregational  movements,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  were  inaugurated  by  laymen ; 
and  this  is  extremely  significant,  for  it  shows  that  the 
need  for  reform  arose  from  the  people;  the  life  which 
the  people  were  leading  in  the  new  time  made  the 
observance  of  rabbinical  Judaism  as  traditionally 
handed  down  impossible;  the  new  outlook  demanded 
a  readjustment  of  the  standards;  but  the  people, 
however  earnest  and  well-intentioned,  can  not  of  them- 
selves guide  any  larger  movement  safely  and  wisely; 
strong  men  are  necessary.  For  that  reason  the  Balti- 
more movement  did  not  become  really  significant 
until  David  Einhorn,  disheartened  by  his  experiences 
in  Pesth,  emigrated  to  this  country,  where  he  felt 
he  would  find  the  right  field  for  his  activity  as  a 
religious  reformer.  But  nine  years  before  Einhorn 
placed  foot  on  the  American  shore,  the  man  had  landed 
here  who  more  than  any  other  was  to  set  the  stamp 
of  his  powerful  personality  upon  the  development 
of  Judaism  in  this  country.  Isaac  M.  Wise  came  to 
the  United  States  because  the  free  spirit  wherewith 
he  had  been  dowered  at  birth  could  not  brook  the 
narrow  restrictions  and  limitations  of  the  surround- 
ings wherein  he  had  been  reared.  With  the  instinct 
of  genius  he  perceived  the  possibilities  in  this  land. 
Though  born  abroad  he  was  the  embodiment  of  the 
American  spirit;  he  was  democratic  through  and 
through,  democratic  in  his  sympathies,  in  his  leanings, 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  19 

in  his  thoughts,  in  his  hopes,  in  his  ideals.  For  him 
Judaism  spelt  democracy  too,  and  therefore  he  per- 
ceived that  the  American  environment  gave  Judaism 
such  an  opportunity  for  its  true  development  as  it 
had  not  had  since  the  Roman  legions  set  flame  to  the 
temple  that  crowned  Moriah's  height,  and  the  Jews 
were  scattered  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 

My  task  in  this  appreciation  penned  in  honor 
of  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  the  great  leader  is 
not  to  produce  a  biographical  sketch,  for  this  has 
been  done  already  fully  and  satisfactorily  in  the 
two  volumes,  Dr.  Wise's  own  valuable  Reminiscences,1 
quite  the  most  interesting  and  illuminating  volume 
of  Jewish  autobiography  published  in  this  country 
and  the  excellent  Life  by  Judge  Max  B.  May,  the 
grandson  of  the  famous  rabbi.2  It  shall  rather 
be  my  purpose  to  attempt  to  visualize  the  man  and 
his  achievements  and  thus  give  a  pen  picture  of  the 
career  which  stands  easily  first  in  the  annals  of 
American  Jewry. 

Isaac  M.  Wise  was  both  a  dreamer  and  a  man 
of  affairs,  an  idealist  and  a  realizer,  a  thinker  and  an 
achiever,  a  student  and  an  organizer.  His  was  the 
indomitable  optimism  of  the  men  who  dare  and  who 
never  acknowledge  defeat.  Obstacle  and  difficulty 
but  spurred  him  on  to  further  effort.  Discourage- 
ment gave  way  constantly  to  renewed  hope.  He 
fitted  thoroughly  into  the  American  environment. 

1  Reminiscences   by    Isaac    M.  Wise  translated  and  edited 
by  David  Philipson,  Cincinnati  1901. 

2  Isaac    Mayer    Wise.     A    Biography    by    Max    B.    May, 
New  York,  1916. 


20  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Freedom  was  the  breath  of  his  nostrils.  He  came 
to  these  shores  because  of  the  opportunities  here 
offered  for  the  unhampered  development  of  human 
powers.  As  Jew  and  as  man  he  had  chafed  under 
the  restrictions  of  the  Hapsburg  rule  in  his  native 
land.  Had  he  remained  in  Europe  he  would  in  all 
likelihood  have  cast  his  lot  with  the  brave  spirits 
who  arose  against  autocracy  and  tyrannical  authority 
in  the  revolutionary  year  1848;  in  fact  the  only 
time  that  he  ever  felt  a  desire  to  return  to  Europe 
was  in  that  year.  But  though  his  was  a  free  spirit 
he  was  a  devout  believer  in  constituted  authority,  the 
authority  set  up  by  the  people  themselves  whether 
now  it  was  in  the  general  sphere  of  government  or 
in  private  institutional  life.  A  thorough  going 
individualist  he  was  yet  a  devoted  adherent  to  the 
idea  of  organization.  As  a  reformer  he  contended 
for  the  right  of  the  individual  Jew  living  in  the 
nineteenth  century  to  an  interpretation  of  his  faith 
conformably  with  the  thought  and  the  needs  of  the 
time  but  he  insisted  also  that  such  individualism, 
necessary  as  it  was,  must  yet  be  curbed  by  organi- 
zation if  it  was  not  to  degenerate  into  religious 
anarchy.  Individual  freedom  and  organized  effort 
may  therefore  be  considered  the  watchwords  of  his 
life.  His  many  sided  activity  as  rabbi,  as  citizen, 
as  editor,  as  founder  of  a  congregational  union,  a 
rabbinical  seminary,  and  a  rabbinical  conference, 
was  the  expression  of  these  watchwords.  Of  that 
remarkable  career  let  an  estimate  be  now  attempted. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  21 

THE    REFORMER 

"The  reforming  spirit  was  innate  in  me:  it  was 
my  foremost  characteristic."3  Thus  wrote  Isaac  M. 
Wise  in  his  autobiographical  reminiscences  when 
describing  his  view-point  at  the  outset  of  his  life  in  the 
United  States.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  all 
projects  for  the  betterment  and  reformation  of  society. 
With  tongue  and  pen  he  championed  all  progressive 
causes.  His  were  both  the  critical  acumen  which 
detected  the  faults  in  the  existing  order  and  the 
fiery  zeal  which  aroused  others  to  work  with  him  for 
the  eradication  of  these  faults.  Although  a  citizen  of 
the  world  and  therefore  interested  in  all  that  made 
for  the  welfare  and  improvement  of  society  in  general, 
still  as  rabbi  his  especial  attention  was  given  to  the 
concerns  of  the  house  of  Israel  and  his  reforming 
zeal  was  directed  particularly  towards  championing 
the  cause  of  Reform  Judaism.  He  felt  that  in  the 
free  American  environment  Judaism  had  an  oppor- 
tunity for  growth  and  development  which  it  pos- 
sessed nowhere  else.  But  if  it  was  to  grow  and 
develop  here  it  must  slough  such  forms,  ceremonies, 
observances  and  view  points  which  did  not  comport 
with  the  spirit  of  the  time,  re-adapt  such  others  as 
still  had  the  power  of  appeal  and  create  if  necessary 
new  institutions  which  would  express  the  underlying 
principles  of  Judaism  in  a  manner  acceptable  to  the 
men  and  the  women  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In 
a  lengthy  essay  entitled  "Reformed  Judaism," 
written  in  1871  he  sets  forth  his  matured  views  on  the 
subject.  By  that  time  he  had  grown  very  clear  in  his 


3  Reminiscences  p.  49. 


22  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


thought.  For  twenty-five  years  he  had  led  the 
tempestuous  life  of  the  fighter  for  progress.  He  had 
spoken  and  written  constantly.  He  had  met  with 
bitter  opposition  not  only  from  the  traditionalists 
but  also  from  reformers  whose  views  did  not  al- 
together agree  with  his.  But  his  zeal  had  not  dimin- 
ished, his  faith  in  the  truth  of  the  reform  principle 
had  not  weakened.  He  mounted  from  step  to  step. 
At  the  close  of  a  quarter  century  of  intense  thought 
and  constant  activity  he  had  reached  a  point  whence 
his  outlook  was  clear  and  unobstructed.  There  is 
no  dubiety  any  longer,  no  hesitation,  if  ever  there  had 
been  any.  His  words  are  clear  cut  expressions  of  his 
positive  standpoint.  "The  civilization  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  being  the  sum  and  substance  of  all 
previous  phases,"  he  writes, "has  produced  conditions 
unknown  in  former  periods  of  history.  Therefore,  the 
principle  of  Judaism  also  must  develop  new  forms 
corresponding  to  the  new  conditions  which  surround 
its  votaries  who  live  among  the  civilized  nations; 
forms  too,  which  were  neither  necessary  nor  desirable 
in  former  periods  of  history,  and  would  not  be  such 
now  to  other  Israelites,  although  adhering  to  the 
same  principle,  who  live  among  semi-barbarous,  or 
even  less  enlightened  nations.  Again,  as  civilization 
progresses,  the  principle  of  Judaism  will  always 
develop  new  forms  in  correspondence  with  every 
progressive  state  of  the  intelligence  and  conscious- 
ness, until  the  great  day  when  one  shepherd  and  one 
flock  will  unite  the  humarf  family  in  truth,  justice 
and  love." 

The   underlying   truths   of   Judaism   are   absolute, 
the  forms  in  which  these  truths  find  expression  are 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  23 

relative.  This  being  the  principle  which  guided  him, 
Wise  from  the  very  beginning  advocated  changes  in 
the  public  form  of  worship  and  in  religious  customs. 
His  first  reform  of  which  there  is  record  was  the  in- 
troduction of  a  mixed  choir  and  family  pews  in  the 
synagog  of  the  congregation  at  Albany  shortly  after 
he  assumed  religious  leadership  there.  Both  these 
reforms  aroused  intense  feeling  because  they  were 
radical  departures  from  the  established  order.  In  the 
orthodox  synagog  woman  took  no  active  part  in  the 
service.  The  religious  emancipation  of  the  Jewish 
woman  is  one  of  the  notable  achievements  of  the 
reform  movement.  Abraham  Geiger  struck  the  first 
note  in  his  striking  essay  "The  Position  of  Woman  in 
the  Judaism  of  our  Time,"4  which  appeared  in  1836. 
This  great  reformer  urged  the  justice  and  the  necessity 
of  the  religious  enfranchisement  of  woman,  but 
Geiger  did  not  succeed  in  carrying  the  theory  into 
practice;  conditions  in  Europe  did  not  permit  this 
at  the  time.  It  was  left  for  Wise  to  inaugurate  this 
blessed  reform  which  has  meant  so  much  in  the  de- 
velopment of  Jewish  religious  and  institutional  life 
in  this  country. 

The  reform  of  the  prayer  book  received  early 
attention  from  Wise.  The  traditional  prayer  book 
contained  prayers,  petitions  and  liturgical  sections 
which  were  simply  survivals  from  a  former  stage  of 
worship  and  did  not  really  express  the  beliefs  of  the 
progressive  Jew  in  the  modern  environment.  Most 
of  the  prominent  reformers,  both  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States  undertook  the  reform  of  the  prayer 
book  It  was  felt  by  most  of  them  that  all  petitions 
4  Infra  "Abraham  Geiger"  p.  143. 


24  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


for  the  restoration  of  the  sacrificial  worship  in  a 
rebuilt  temple  at  Jerusalem  under  the  ministration 
of  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  and  for  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  Jewish  state  under  the  rule  of  a  descendant 
of  the  house  of  David  should  be  eliminated  It  was 
also  felt  that  the  universalistic  note  should  be  stressed 
in  the  prayers.  While  the  reformers  held  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  election  of  Israel  as  the  priest  people 
of  humanity  they  interpreted  this  in  the  spirit  of  the 
great  prophet  of  the  Exile  to  whom  we  owe  the  classic 
phrase  that  terms  Israel  "the  servant  of  the  Lord." 
This  implied  for  the  reformers  the  further  thought 
that  the  Messiah  of  Jewish  hope  was  to  be  no  one 
man  but  that  the  people  Israel  is  the  Messiah,  the 
Lord's  anointed;  hence  all  petitions  for  the  coming 
of  a  personal  Messiah  were  removed  from  the  prayer 
book  and  their  place  taken  by  prayers  for  the  coming  of 
a  Messianic  age  of  universal  justice,  mercy  and  peace, 
the  golden  age  forecast  by  the  prophets  of  Israel. 
It  was  also  urged  that  portions  of  the  service  should 
be  read  in  the  vernacular  since  the  Hebrew  was  un- 
intelligible to  many  worshippers. 

Individual  reformers  published  their  own  prayer 
books  so  that  in  time  there  were  well  nigh  as  many 
prayer  books  in  use  as  there  were  reform  rabbis 
of  prominence.  From  the  very  start  Wise  felt 
that  the  preparation  of  the  reform  prayer  book  was 
a  matter  for  concerted  and  not  for  individual  action. 
As  will  appear  shortly  when  the  subject  of  rabbinical 
conferences  will  be  treated,  he  advocated  the  need 
of  a  reform  ritual  at  the  first  gathering  of  rabbis  in  this 
country  in  1846.  The  subject  being  referred  to  him 
he  prepared  a  manuscript  for  submission  at  a  later 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  25 

meeting.  That  meeting  was  not  called.  Therefore 
although  he  had  prepared  a  manuscript  of  a  reform 
prayer  book  he  laid  it  aside.  He  waited  hoping  always 
that  there  would  be  some  organization  formed  that 
would  undertake  this  important  task.  It  was  not 
till  1856  that  in  co-operation  with  Pabbis  Kalisch 
and  Rothenheim,  a  committee  appointed  at  the 
Cleveland  Conference  in  1855,  he  published  the 
Minhag  America,  the  prayer  book  which  has  always 
been  associated  with  his  name.  This  name  Minhag 
America  is  very  significant  and  indicates  one  of  the 
leading  thoughts  which  animated  Wise  throughout 
his  life.  The  term  which  may  be  rendered  "The 
American  Rite"  suggests  at  once  the  terms  familiar 
to  all  students  of  the  Jewish  liturgy,  "Minhag  Ash- 
kenaz,"  "Minhag  Sefard,"  "Minhag  Polen"  and 
the  like,  namely  "The  German  Rite,"  "The  Spanish 
Rite,"  "The  Polish  Rite,"  meaning  of  course  the 
liturgy  in  use  among  German,  Spanish  and  Polish 
Jews  respectively.  By  adopting  a  parallel  name  for 
the  prayer  book  intended  for  American  Jewish  con- 
gregations Wise  doubtless  wished  to  serve  notice  of 
his  conviction  that  just  as  there  was-  speech  of 
German  Judaism,  Spanish  Judaism,  Polish  Judaism, 
so  also  was  there  an  American  Judaism.  I  believe 
he  was  the  first  to  use  this  term.  He  believed  that 
in  free  America  Judaism  would  assume  an  expression 
different  from  any  manifestation  it  had  assumed  in 
European  or  Asiatic  lands  for  in  the  free  atmosphere 
of  the  United  States  Judaism  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  freely  and  unobstructedly  such  as 
it  had  not  had  during  all  the  centuries  of  European 
oppression  and  repression. 


26  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

This  Minhag  America  which  eliminated  all  petitions 
for  the  return  to  Palestine,  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem,  the  reinstitution  of  the  sacrifices, 
the  restoration  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood  and  the 
Davidic  dynasty  was  gradually  adopted  by  the  great 
majority  of  the  reform  congregations  in  the  western 
and  southern  portions  of  the  country.  Wise  changed 
even  the  Hebrew  form  of  a  number  of  the  prayers; 
he  gave  traditional  particularistic  petitions  a  universal- 
istic  rendering.  Prayers  expressive  of  the  belief  in 
the  bodily  resurrection  were  changed  by  him  so  as 
to  express  the  doctrine  of  spiritual  immortality.  He 
excised  most  of  the  piyyulim5  with  which  the 
traditional  prayer  book  was  overloaded.  He  pro- 
vided English  and  German  translations  for  the 
Hebrew  prayers  although  in  his  own  congregation 
the  service  was  conducted  entirely  in  Hebrew  with 
the  exception  of  occasional  prayers  up  to  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  the  Union  Prayer  Book  published 
by  the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis,  the 
greater  portion  of  which  is  in  the  vernacular.  By 
having  his  congregation  discard  his  own  book,  the 
Minhag  America,  and  adopt  the  Union  Prayer  Book 
the  great  leader  performed  a  remarkable  act  of  self 
abnegation.  The  example  set  by  his  congregation 
was  followed  by  scores  of  congregations  which  had 
been  using  the  Minhag  America.  By  this  act  he 
showed  his  fidelity  to  the  principle  of  organization. 
As  early  as  1846  he  had  urged  the  need  for  an  ac- 
credited rabbinical  body  to  prepare  a  ritual  for  public 
worship;  this  was  not  achieved  in  the  United  States 
until  1894  when  the  Central  Conference  of  American 
6  Liturgical  poems. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  27 


Rabbis  published  the  Union  Prayer  Book.  At  once 
this  true  protagonist  of  union  and  co-operation  gave 
practical  testimony  to  the  sincerity  of  his  life  long 
preachment.  By  this  self  effacing  deed  of  the  leading 
rabbi  in  the  country  the  Union  Prayer  Book  was  given 
public  endorsement  as  the  recognized  ritual  of  Ameri- 
can Reform  Judaism,  more  than  by  any  other  single 
act.  This  book  which  is  now  used  by  more  than  three 
hundred  congregations  has  become  indeed  a  bond  of 
union  for  the  reform  congregations  of  the  United 
States.  It  has  done  more  than  any  other  single  factor 
in  displacing  the  individualism  which  so  hampered 
united  action  among  the  early  reformers.  By  the 
co-operation  symbolized  by  the  Union  Prayer  Book 
the  reform  synagogue  has  become  a  great  religious 
force.  By  retaining  the  frame  work  of  the  traditional 
prayer  book  on  the  one  hand  and  including  passages 
expressive  of  the  modern  religious  outlook  on  the 
other,  this  ritual  combines  past  and  present.  It  is 
thus  both  conservative  and  progressive,  showing  the 
connection  of  the  reform  movement  with  the  con- 
tinuing spirit  of  God  as  manifested  in  Israel  through- 
out the  ages  and  expressing  the  eternal  values  of 
Judaism  in  words  appealing  to  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  the  modern  age. 

THE  RABBINICAL   CONFERENCE 

It  is  remarkable  that  almost  from  the  day  that 
Isaac  M.  Wise  began  his  active  career  as  rabbi  in 
Albany  he  conceived  plans  which  were  realized  many 
years  later  in  the  institutions  which  he  founded.  He 
had  been  in  Albany  scarcely  a  month  when  he  joined 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal  in  October  1846  in 


28  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

assembling  the  first  conference  of  rabbis  in  this 
country.  This  gathering  called  by  the  traditional 
name  Beth  Din  was  very  modest  in  numbers  and  in 
purpose.  It  consisted  of  only  four  men  but  it  is 
significant  as  the  first  step  in  that  long  journey  which 
ended  in  the  great  achievement,  the  organization  of 
the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  in  July 
1889.  Although  as  he  says  he  did  not  like  the  name 
Beth  Din  which  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Lilienthal  still 
he  acquiesced  because  he  "felt  that  only  good  could 
come  from  the  co-operation  of  the  men  named." 
Co-operation!  this  was  the  master  word  which  re- 
mained the  touchstone  of  his  activity  throughout 
life.  Time  and  again  he  failed  in  his  attempts  at 
permanent  co-operation  with  his  rabbinical  colleagues 
but  never  utterly  discouraged,  he  persisted  until 
success  finally  crowned  his  efforts. 

The  steps  in  the  progress  which  began  with  the 
Beth  Din  of  1846  are  an  eloquent  commentary  on  the 
man's  indefatigable  spirit.  The  Beth  Din  held  but 
this  one  meeting.  Plans  were  discussed  and  tasks 
assigned  at  this  initial  meeting  but  the  plans  re- 
mained a  pious  wish  and  the  tasks  were  not  completed. 
Those  plans  included  the  preparation  of  a  catechism 
and  Biblical  history  for  Jewish  schools  and  a  reform 
ritual  for  the  congregations,  to  be  called  Minhag 
America.  It  was  nine  years  ere  the  effort  to  form  a 
rabbinical  organization  which  Wise  kept  advocating 
in  the  public  press  and  from  the  pulpit  received  suf- 
ficient support  from  his  colleagues  to  justify  a  second 
attempt. 

The  Cleveland  Conference  called  in  1855  to  bring 
into  being  a  permanent  general  Jewish  organization 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  29 

or  synod  failed  because  of  the  great  divergence  on 
the  subject  of  religious  reforms  among  the  rabbis. 
This  Conference  which  aimed  to  unite  all  wings  was 
wrecked  on  the  rock  of  compromise.  Isaac  Leeser, 
the  leader  of  the  orthodox  contingent,  who  was  present 
at  the  Conference  had  succeeded  in  having  included 
in  the  declaration  of  principles  which  were  to  guide 
all  future  synods  the  following  paragraph  defining 
the  attitude  towards  the  Talmud,  "The  Talmud 
contains  the  traditional,  legal  and  logical  exposition 
of  the  Biblical  laws  which  must  be  expounded  and 
practiced  according  to  the  comments  of  the  Talmud." 
This  paragraph  called  forth  bitter  protests  from  the 
radical  reform  congregations  notably  the  Emanuel  of 
New  York  and  the  Har  Sinai  of  Baltimore.  David 
Einhorn,  rabbi  of  the  latter  congregation  was  particu- 
larly bitter  against  the  Cleveland  compromisers. 
Isaac  Leeser  too  was  not  satisfied  with  the  outcome 
of  the  deliberations  which  were  of  too  progressive  a 
tendency  for  him  despite  the  paragraph  on  the 
Talmud  just  cited.  Wise,  Lilienthal  and  their  con- 
freres were  thus  belabored  by  the  extremists  among 
the  reformers  and  the  orthodox.  Wise  was  greatly 
discouraged.  The  hope  for  union  in  American  Jewry 
was  the  star  that  had  led  him  on.  For  the  sake  of 
that  union  he  was  willing  to  meet  all  others  half  way. 
"Judaism,  progress — American  Judaism,  free,  pro- 
gressive, enlightened,  united,  and  respected — this  was 
my  ideal."6 

In  the  synod  all  elements  were  to  be  represented 
so  that  Israel  in  America  might  present  a  united  front. 
It  was  his  expectation  that  the  reformers  by  being 
6  Reminiscences  p.  317. 


30  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

united  might  swing  the  synod  to  the  advocacy  of  a 
progressive  policy.  The  protests  of  the  Eastern 
reformers  disillusioned  and  disappointed  him  beyond 
words.  "A  split  among  the  reformers,  whose  prin- 
ciples were  not  yet  definitely  fixed,  appeared  to  me 
an  event  painful  and  fraught  with  misfortune.  It 
depressed  and  discouraged  me  completely,  for  without 
union  among  the  reformers,  who  were  in  the  minority, 
no  progressive  measures  could  be  hoped  for  from  the 
synod. ^  There  was  hope  for  the  victory  of  the  reform 
element  on  the  condition  that  its  leaders  were  united. 
All  the  efforts  for  union  were  shattered,  for  the 
moment,  at  any  rate,  by  these  protests."7  In  the 
light  of  Wise's  well  known  reforming  spirit,  it  has 
been  difficult  for  many  to  understand  how  he  could 
favor  the  adoption  of  the  paragraph  on  the  Talmud 
in  the  Cleveland  platform.  But  for  him  at  this 
time  "Union  in  Israel"  was  the  paramount  considera- 
tion. He  indulged  the  dream  that  if  only  the  various 
elements  could  be  brought  together  in  one  organiza- 
tion the  reform  principle  must  ultimately  triumph. 
And  to  secure  that  organization  he  felt  that  all  must 
sacrifice  something,  reformers  as  well  as  orthodox. 
This  alone  can  explain  the  Cleveland  platform. 
Later  he  recognized  the  futility  of  his  hopes  for  a 
union  of  all  Israel  and  bent  his  energies  towards  a 
consolidation  of  the  progressive  forces.  The  Cleve- 
land Conference  proved  abortive  as  far  as  the  larger 
hope  was  concerned.  Reformers  and  orthodox  came 
no  closer  together.  Lilienthal  and  Leeser  carried  on 
a  spirited  controversy.  Wise,  the  unconquerable 
optimist,  rebounded  from  the  despair  which  had 
7  Reminiscences  p.  317-318. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  31 

settled  upon  him  and  now  and  again  in  the  columns 
of  his  organ  the  Israelite,  propounded  his  pet  project 
of  union  and  co-operation. 

The  next  move  however  did  not  proceed  directly 
from  him.  His  whilom  opponents  among  the  re- 
formers took  steps  to  call  a  conference  of  reform 
rabbis.  Forgetting  past  recriminations  the  Cincin- 
nati rabbis  Wise  and  Lilienthal  joined  with  their 
Eastern  colleagues  and  in  1869  met  with  them  at 
Philadelphia.  This  Conference  adopted  a  declaration 
of  principles  frankly  and  unhesitantly  reform  in 
character.  Again  the  flood  gates  of  bitter  debate 
were  opened  and  the  reformers  were  assailed  without 
mercy  by  conservatives  and  traditionalists.  Dif- 
ferences too  arose  again  between  the  reformers  in  the 
East  and  the  Central  West  so  that  none  of  the  prom- 
inent rabbis  from  the  East  attended  the  rabbinical 
Conference  held  in  Cleveland  in  July  1870.  Con- 
ferences were  also  held  in  New  York  in  October  of 
that  same  year  and  in  Cincinnati  in  June  1871. 
But  the  spirit  of  full  union  even  among  the  reformers 
was  lamentably  absent.  An  unfortunate  incident 
growing  out  of  the  Cincinnati  Conference  known  as 
"The  Personal  God  Controversy"  widened  the  breach 
between  the  Eastern  reformers  and  Wise  and  his 
followers.  Bitter  invectives  were  hurled  back  and 
forth.  The  reformers  of  the  two  sections  of  the 
country  seemed  hopelessly  apart. 

Despairing  of  the  union  of  the  reform  forces  in  the 
East  and  the  West,  Wise  now  determined  to  make  a 
beginning  with  sympathetic  coadjutors.  In  response 
to  his  efforts  a  number  of  delegates  of  Western  and 
Southern  congregations  assembled  at  Cincinnati  in 


32  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

1873  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations.  But  this  is  another  story 
Here  we  are  concerned  particularly  with  the  tale  of 
rabbinical  organization.  Despite  the  repeated  failures 
to  form  a  permanent  rabbinical  association  Wise 
still  never  lost  faith  in  the  outcome.  He  was  so 
firmly  convinced  of  the  need  of  such  an  organization 
for  the  discussion  of  the  religious  problems  in  American 
Israel  that  he  never  relinquished  the  purpose.  The 
old  generation  of  rabbis  began  passing  away.  A 
new  generation  had  arisen  when  shortly  after  the 
celebration  of  his  seventieth  birthday  the  ever  young 
leader  made  another  attempt  to  give  form  and  sub- 
stance to  his  pet  plans  for  a  rabbinical  conference. 
The  great  prestige  which  was  now  his  as  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  American  Judaism  and  the  fact  that 
he  had  his  own  pupils,  the  graduates  of  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  to  depend  upon  made  the  success  of 
this  new  venture  an  almost  foregone  conclusion. 
Colleagues  who  had  stood  with  him  in  earlier  days 
joined  with  his  pupils  in  the  successful  launching  of  the 
Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  in  the  city 
of  Detroit  in  July  1889.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Beth  Din  of  four  members  in  October  1846  to 
the  organization  of  the  Central  Conference  forty  three 
years  later.  During  those  four  decades  and  more 
the  intrepid  leader,  though  occasionally  defeated 
kept  following  the  light  which  only  he  saw.  The 
vision  had  grown  clearer  and  clearer.  For  years 
he  had  wandered  in  the  wilderness  of  contention 
and  dissension,  but  more  favored  than  many  prophets 
and  seers  he  not  only  glimpsed  his  promised  land  but 
entered  into  it.  It  was  given  him  to  live  to  enjoy 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  33 

the  fruits  of  his  persistent  labors.  He  outlived  all 
opposition.  He  occupied  an  unique  position.  His 
leadership  was  now  unquestioned.  There  was  none 
to  say  him  nay.  For  eleven  years  he  presided  at  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  conference.  He  lived  to  see 
it  become  a  great  force  in  the  religious  life  of  organized 
progressive  Jewry.  The  story  of  the  Conference  is 
told  elsewhere.8  Sufficient  to  record  on  the  occasion 
of  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  the  founder  of  the 
Conference  the  debt  of  all  Jews  in  America  to  him, 
for  whatever  be  the  complexion  of  their  beliefs,  the 
splendid  organized  life  among  us  is  traceable  to  Isaac 
M.  Wise,  the  father  of  organized  religious  effort  in  the 
United  States.  New  issues  have  arisen,  new  problems 
confront  us,  but  whatever  the  issues,  whatever  the 
problems,  we  recognize  the  significance  of  Wise's 
master  passion,  the  need  of  co-operation  and  organi- 
zation. Upon  that  rock  we  are  building  more  and 
more.  This  is  Wise's  great  legacy  to  his  co-religion- 
ists. His  genius  for  organization  has  borne  rich 
fruit.  The  highly  organized  life  of  American  Jewry 
rests  upon  the  foundations  he  laid. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  UNION. 

Although  the  first  practical  evidence  of  co-opera- 
tion appeared  in  Wise's  participation  in  the  meeting  of 
the  Beth  Din  called  by  Dr.  Lilienthal  in  1846  still  his 
own  vision  was  broader.  In  studying  conditions  in 
this  country  he  was  much  impressed  by  the  poverty 
of  Jewish  institutional  life  and  the  lack  of  united  effort 
for  the  common  Jewish  welfare.  There  were  a 

8  Infra,  "The  Principles  and  Achievements  of  the  Central 
Conference  of  American  Rabbis"  p.  200  ff. 


34  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

number  of  congregations,  it  is  true,  in  New  York 
and  elsewhere,  possibly  a  score  in  all,  but  there  was 
no  other  form  of  organization.  In  describing  condi- 
tions prevalent  at  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  he  writes  "The  school  system  in 
general  was  in  a  deplorable  condition.  Religious 
instruction  was  imparted  one  hour  in  the  week  by 
ladies.  Leeser  furnished  the  text-books,  all  ultra- 
orthodox.  There  were  no  Jewish  charities,  with  the 
exception  of  several  decaying  chebroth  and  two 
societies  in  New  York.  There  was  no  provision 
for  widows  and  orphans,  no  hospital.  In  brief,  the 
American  Jews  had  not  one  public  institution,  except 
their  synagogues.  In  lieu  thereof,  the  missionaries 
lay  in  ambush  everywhere,  in  order  to  bait  some 
poor  Jew.  It  was  perfectly  evident  to  me  that 
Judaism  would  have  no  future  in  America  unless 
mighty  upheavals,  accompanied  by  constructive 
action,  would  arouse  the  better  element  into  action, 
awaken  and  attract  the  thoughtless  and  indifferent, 
so  that  it  would  become  reconciled  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age  and  the  opinions  prevalent  in  the  new 
fatherland." 

The  improvement  of  this  deplorable  condition  was 
Wise's  constant  thought  and  desire.  He  felt  that  an 
assembly  of  representatives  chosen  by  the  congregations 
was  imperative.  He  therefore  issued  in  December 
1848  an  appeal  for  a  union  of  congregations,  the  first 
document  of  its  kind  to  appear  in  the  United  State? 
This  document,  entitled  "the  Ministers  and  other 
Israelites"  is  remarkable  in  that  the  young  enthusiast 
lays  down  here  the  program  which  guided  his 
activity  for  the  next  quarter  century  until  he  saw 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  35 

it  realized  in  1873  when  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations  was  organized.  A  few  para- 
graphs of  this  prophetic  utterance  may  well  be  quoted : 
"There  is  perhaps  not  a  single  Israelite  among  my 
readers  who  is  not  fully  inspired  with  the  inclination  to 
share  in  the  mission  of  his  ancient  people,  as  the  voice 
of  God  called  to  each  individual  of  Israel,  without 
exception  of  either  sex,  or  age  or  spiritual  abilities: 
'But  you  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests.' 
Now,  in  order  to  fulfill  our  sacred  mission,  to  send 
our  important  message  to  mankind,  it  behooves  us 
to  be  united  as  one  man;  .  .  .We  ought  to  have 
a  uniform  system  for  our  schools,  synagogues,  benevo- 
lent societies — for  all  our  religious  institutions.  This 
we  need  to  have  throughout  the  world,  if  we  are 
to  be  considered  as  the  same  descendants  of  Israel,  the 
same  Disciples  of  Mosheh — if  we  are  truly  to  fulfill 
our  sacred  mission  .  .  .  Let  us  now  direct  our 
attention  to  the  country  where  we  live  and. the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  placed.  The  majority 
of  our  congregations  in  this  country  have  been 
established  but  a  few  years  back;  they  are  generally 
composed  of  the  most  negative  elements  from  all  the 
different  parts  of  Europe  and  elsewhere;  they  have 
been  founded  and  are  now  governed  for  the  greater 
part  by  men  of  no  considerable  knowledge  of  our 
religion,  and  generally  of  no  particular  zeal  for  our 
common  cause.  The  consequence  of  all  this  is 
that  many  congregations  have  no  solid  basis,  no 
particular  stimulus  to  urge  on  the  youth  to  a  religious 
life,  and  no  nourishment  for  the  spirtual  Israelite. 
This  naturally  produces  an  enormous  amount  of 
indifference;  and  each  congregation  pursues  its  own 


36  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

way,  has  its  own  customs  and  mode  of  worship,  its 
own  way  of  thinking  about  religious  questions,  from 
which  cause  it  then  results  that  one  Jew  is  a  stranger 
in  the  synagogue  of  the  other  Jew.  .  .  .  You  see, 
we  have  no  system  for  our  worship,  nor  for  our 
ministry  and  schools,  and  we  are  therefore  divided 
in  as  many  fragments  as  there  are  congregations  in 
North  America.  It  is  lamentable,  but  true,  that  if 
we  do  not  unite  ourselves  betimes  to  devise  a  practic- 
able system  for  the  ministry  and  religious  education  at 
large — if  we  do  not  take  care  that  better  educated 
men  fill  the  pulpit  and  the  schoolmaster's  chair- — if 
we  do  not  stimulate  all  the  congregations  to  establish 
good  schools,  and  to  institute  a  reform  in  their 
synagogues  on  modern  Jewish  principles,  the  house  of 
the  Lord  will  be  desolate,  or  nearly  so,  in  less  than  ten 
years,  and  the  zeal  of  the  different  Christian  mission- 
aries will  be  sufficient  to  make  among  us  a  large  number 
of  unprincipled  infidels.  It  needs  no  prophetic  spirit 
to  read  this  horrible  future  in  the  present  circum- 
stances. I  lay  down  these  lines  before  the  throne  of 
history  as  a  solemn  protest  against  the  spirit  of 
separate  action  and  of  indifTerentism  which  has  taken 
hold  of  so  many  noble  minds  of  our  brethren,  and  I 
proclaim  before  the  whole  world,  before  the  present 
and  future,  my  sincere  conviction  that  now  something 
must  be  done  to  defend  and  maintain  our  sacred 
faith.  Nor  is  it  too  late;  everything  can  be  done  if 
we  are  united  before  God.  ...  I  call  upon  all  my 
honored  friends,  both  ministers  and  laymen,  and  all 
who  have  an  interest  in  the  promulgation  of  God's 
law:  come,  let  us  be  assembled  in  order  to  become 
united!  Exercise  all  your  influence  on  your  friends 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  37 

and  acquaintances,  to  bring  together  all  men  of  zeal 
and  piety,  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  to  consider 
what  should  be  done  for  the  union,  welfare  and  prog- 
ress of  Israel." 

This  first  stirring  call  for  union  was  fruitless  of 
results.  Before  his  own  congregation  in  Albany,  in 
New  York  City,  in  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere  the 
eager  and  earnest  issuer  of  that  call  for  union  ad- 
dressed his  brethren.  He  had  enlisted  the  support 
of  Isaac  Leeser,  the  foremost  orthodox  rabbi  of  the 
country.  The  appeal  was  sent  to  all  existing  congre- 
gations. But  it  remained  a  pious  hope  for  the  time. 
Though  momentarily  disheartened  Wise  returned  to 
the  charge  time  and  again  in  spoken  and  written 
word.  In  truth,  he  felt  that  he  must  have  his  own 
organ  in  whose  columns  he  could  advocate  his  views 
and  present  his  projects.  Therefore  almost  immedi- 
ately after  his  assuming  charge  of  the  Bene  Jeshurun 
congregation  in  Cincinnati  in  1854  he  began  the 
publication  of  the  "Israelite"  (now  known  as  the 
"American  Israelite")  the  first  number  of  which 
appeared  in  the  beginning  of  July  of  that  year. 
Week  in,  week  out,  year  in,  year  out,  he  advocated 
his  pet  project  of  union  in  this  most  widely  read  Jewish 
journal  in  the  United  States.  Public  opinion  had  to 
be  formed.  Opposition  had  to  be  overcome.  A 
following  had  to  be  secured.  But  not  only  by  the 
written  word  did  this  indefatigable  spirit  strive  towards 
his  desired  goal  but  also  by  the  spoken  utterance. 
He  travelled  hither  and  thither  addressing  his  co- 
religionists in  eloquent  wise.  He  became  the  best 
known  Jewish  leader  in  the  country.  He  had  as- 
sumed a  formidable  task  and  knowing  no  such  word 


38  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

as  fail  he  presented  the  project  in  a  hundred  different 
forms.  "Union"  was  his  text.  .  The  interpretations 
of  that  text  were  manifold.  One  will  suffice  to  indi- 
cate the  spirit  which  breathed  through  them  all. 
"Every  congregation,"  he  wrote,  "has  a  leader  who 
reforms  as  he  thinks  proper.  We  do  not  struggle  to 
maintain  Judaism,  we  work  to  maintain  a  congrega- 
tion, each  by  himself.  We  do  not  consider  Israel's 
future,  the  future  of  a  certain  congregation  is  every 
leader's  object.  Since  when  are  we  so  narrow-minded? 
Kvery  reform  congregation  has  its  own  views,  its  own 
prayer-book,  its  own  catechism;  every  congregation 
behaves  as  a  distinct  sect.  They  call  this  the  free 
development  of  the  religious  idea,  we  call  it  anarchy. 
They  say  it  is  beneficial,  we  say  it  keeps  the  congre- 
gations apart  and  gives  rise  to  undue  rivalry.  History 
condemns  it,  common  sense  says,  'united  we  stand,' 
there  is  strength  in  union." 

The  program  in  the  first  call  of  1848  became  more 
definite  in  this  statement  of  1870.  Other  facts  are 
also  evident.  In  1848  the  rising  young  leader  had  a 
vision  of  the  union  of  all  Jews  whatever  their  opinions 
and  beliefs.  As  above  stated  he  had  clasped  hands 
with  Isaac  Leeser,  the  spokesman  of  orthodoxy. 
Time  had  demonstrated  the  futility  of  that  larger 
hope.  Wise  therefore  concentrated  his  efforts  upon 
securing  a  union  of  the  reform  forces  as  represented 
by  the  reform  congregations.  But  here  too  he  was 
destined  to  be  doomed  to  disappointment.  A  number 
of  great  reform  leaders  were  too  individualistic ;  they 
could  not  and  would  not  make  concessions  for  the 
common  weal.  "Principiis  obsta"  was  their  motto. 
Wise  on  the  other  hand  had  statesmanlike  qualities; 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  39 

he  was  ready  and  willing  to  make  compromises  for 
the  time  being  in  order  to  secure  larger  aims.  He  him- 
self clearly  envisaged  the  difference  between  his  own 
methods  and  that  of  his  Eastern  opponents  as  he  once 
wrote  "In  the  East  reform  is  an  object  per  se,  with  us 
it  is  secondary;  we  want  reforms  in  order  to  endear 
and  preserve  our  religion,  therefore  we  ask  the  ques- 
tion, what  benefit  is  this  or  that  reform  to  our  sacred 
cause;  they  want  reform  per  se,  and  ask  only  the 
question,  how  will  this  or  that  reform  be  liked. 
Here  is  a  difference  of  principle  of  which  practical 
results  speak.  The  Eastern  reformers  are  theoretical, 
we  are  practical;  they  are  negative,  we  are  positive, 
they  consider  themselves  wiser  and  more  learned  and 
more  respectable  than  we  are,  that  is,  the  bulk  of  the 
people,  and  keep  aloof;  we  are  democratic  in  our  re- 
ligious feelings."  "Union"  seemed  to  him  so  desir- 
able and  so  necessary  that  in  his  opinion  a  policy  of 
reciprocity  must  guide  the  leaders  of  Jewry.  Still  in 
his  passion  for  union  in  the  American  reform  syna- 
gogue he  did  not  once  advocate  the  surrender  of 
congregational  autonomy.  He  claimed  that  there 
were  certain  great  communal  tasks  which  could  only 
be  achieved  by  the  congregations  working  in  unison 
but  that  this  by  no  means  implied  the  relinquishment 
by  any  individual  congregation  of  the  management 
of  its  own  affairs  without  interference  by  the  Union 
of  Congregations. 

With  all  his  persistency  however,  he  could  not  in- 
duce the  prominent  reform  rabbis  in  the  Eastern 
part  of  the  country  to  join  with  him.  His  plan  had 
to  be  narrowed  further.  He  had  long  ago  surrendered 
the  congenial  hope  of  a  union  of  all  Israel,  reform  and 


40  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

orthodox;  now  he  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  was  no  likelihood  for  the  present  at  least  that  a 
union  'of  even  the  reform  congregations  of  the  whole 
country  was  possible.  The  East  was  unresponsive. 
There  was  but  one  thing  left  and  that  was  to  organize 
with  men  and  congregations  willing  to  co-operate. 
Wise's  campaigning  for  union  during  twenty-four 
years  had  not  remained  devoid  of  results.  His  in- 
fluence was  supreme  in  the  Middle  West  and  the  South. 
When  owing  to  discussions,  aroused  notably  by  a 
rabbinical  conference  held  in  Cincinnati  in  1871,  it 
became  abundantly  clear  that  the  Eastern  leaders 
would  not  join  with  the  Cincinnati  men,  Wise  and  his 
following  took  the  decisive  step  of  calling  a  meeting 
of  delegates  of  congregations  in  the  West  and  South 
for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations.  That  meeting  took  place 
in  Cincinnati  in  July  1873.  The  labor  of  two  decades 
and  a  half  was  finally  crowned  with  success.  What 
the  young  rabbi  of  Albany  had  dreamed  had  come 
true.  Little  wonder  that  the  issue  of  the  Israelite 
following  that  historic  meeting  contained  a  jubilant 
editorial.  The  hopes  and  efforts,  the  longings  and 
endeavors  of  many  years  were  now  realized. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  joyousness  of  this 
man  who  had  been  so  frequently  disappointed  but 
who  yet  would  not  lay  down  his  arms,  who  had  been  so 
constantly  and  bitterly  attacked  but  yet  would  not 
surrender,  who  had  led  what  appeared  a  forlorn  hope 
but  yet  followed  his  vision  undeterred.  Taking  as 
text  of  his  article  on  that  historical  gathering  which 
called  the  Union  into  being  the  famous  Isaianic 
passage  "For  a  child  was  born  unto  us,  a  son  was  given 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  41 


unto  us  and  the  dominion  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder" 
he  proceeds  in  moving  words  to  tell  what  this  Union 
stands  for  and  what  it  hopes  to  achieve.  "On  the 
eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  days  of  July  in  the  conven- 
tion held  in  Cincinnati,  the  youngest  child  of  Israel 
was  born,"  he  tells  his  readers.  "The  Union  of 
American  Hebrew  Congregations  was  organized, 
constituted,  and  established.  This  is  nowr  an  ac- 
complished fact.  We  only  wish  to  add  that  the  work 
was  done  with  fraternal  unanimity  and  a  feeling  of 
solidarity  such  as  few  popular  assemblies  have  ever 
manifested.  Not  a  harsh  wrord  was  spoken  in  three 
days,  either  in  the  Convention  or  in  the  committee- 
rooms;  not  one  delegate  left  the  spot  dissatisfied  or 
displeased.  It  was  a  feast  of  harmonious  co-operation 
and  of  fraternization.  We  record  this  that  future 
generations  may  know  how  their  sires  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Union  of  American  Hebre\v  Congregations. 
The  new  chapter  in  our  history  begins  with  peace, 
and  sends  forth  the  ancient  salutation  to  all,  Shalom 
Alechem — ' Peace  to  all  of  you.'  ' 

The  great  organizer  builded  wiser  than  even  he 
knew  at  the  time.  The  great  achievement  became 
ever  greater  with  the  passing  of  the  years.  The 
breach  between  the  reformers  of  the  East  and  the 
West  was  healed  when  in  1878  the  leading  Eastern 
congregations  joined  the  Union.  The  founder  of  this 
congregational  union  had  the  joy  of  witnessing  the 
remarkable  expansion  of  the  organization.  The  score 
of  congregations  whose  representatives  organized  the 
Union  have  grown  to  a  great  host  until  now  there  is 
scarcely  a  reform  congregation  in  this  country  which 
is  not  included  in  the  membership  of  the  central  body. 


42  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Here  again  the  old  proverb  has  proven  true  that  it  is 
the  first  step  which  counts.  That  first  successful 
movement  for  union  in  American  Jewry  led  the  way 
for  the  remarkable  development  of  the  organizing 
and  co-operating  spirit  which  is  so  striking  a  feature 
in  our  present  day  Jewish  life.  Isaac  M.  Wise  was  a 
prophet  and  a  pioneer.  Where  others  failed,  he  suc- 
ceeded. His  masterful  will,  his  unquenchable  opti- 
mism, his  unceasing  activity  and  his  intrepid  spirit 
rose  triumphant  over  all  obstacles;  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  his  is  the  most  impressive  figure  in  the 
history  of  Judaism  in  the  United  States. 

THE  RABBINICAL  SEMINARY 

Another  of  the  pet  projects  which  Dr.  Wise  cherished 
from  the  early  days  of  his  career  was  the  establish- 
ent  of  an  institution  for  the  education  and  training 
of  rabbis.  When  he  arrived  in  this  country  the 
congregations,  few  though  they  were,  were  poorly 
served  with  scant  exceptions.  In  most  instances  in- 
capable men,  sometimes  ignorant,  frequently  uncouth 
and  unrepresentative  stood  at  the  head  of  the  con- 
gregations. Wise  sensed  the  situation  thoroughly. 
He  recognized  that  possibly  the  greatest  need  for 
Jew  and  Judaism  was  that  they  should  be  capably 
led  and  worthily  represented.  His  cry  for  many 
years  was  that  American  congregations  must  have 
American  rabbis,  men  educated  in  America,  men  filled 
with  the  free  spirit  of  America,  men  who  combined  a 
modern  American  education  with  a  knowledge  of 
Jewish  lore.  Again  as  in  the  case  of  the  rabbinical 
conference  and  the  congregational  union  it  was  a 
score  of  years  and  more  ere  the  project  took  definite 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  43 

shape  and  form.  During  these  years  the  untiring 
leader  kept  the  project  before  the  public.  Truly  he 
knew  not  failure.  Persistency  finally  won  the  day 
in  this  instance  as  in  his  other  plans. 

With  the  passing  of  time  his  ideas  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  institution  changed.  This  was  due  partly 
to  changes  in  the  general  educational  situation  and 
partly  to  the  clarifying  of  his  own  thought  and  purpose. 
His  earliest  suggestion  was  the  establishment  by 
Jews  of  an  institution  for  the  training  of  rabbis  and 
teachers  in  which  not  only  the  Hebrew  and  religious 
but  also  secular  branches  should  be  taught.  In 
other  words  this  institution  was  to  be  not  entirely  a 
rabbinical  or  theological  school  but  was  to  furnish 
also  a  secular  education.  For  the  maintenance  of 
this  institution  to  be  known  as  Zion  College  he  advo- 
cated the  formation  of  associations  in  the  various 
Jewish  communities  entitled  Zion  Collegiate  Asso- 
ciations. By  dint  of  personal  appeals  he  succeeded 
in  having  five  such  associations  organized  in  as  many 
cities,  namely  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  New  York, 
Cleveland  and  Baltimore.  Zion  College  was  opened  in 
the  fall  of  1855  in  Cincinnati  but  owing  to  lack  of 
active  support  and  even  opposition  it  was  very  short 
lived.  Again  he  was  years  ahead  of  his  generation. 
Twenty  years  later  when  he  penned  his  reminiscences, 
he  wrote  concerning  this  institution,  "If  American 
Jewry  had  been  ripe  for  such  an  undertaking  at  that 
time,  as  some  few  men  in  Cincinnati  and  Louisville 
were,  what  could  not  a  school  such  as  that  college  have 
accomplished  within  the  space  of  twenty  years?  There 
would  have  been  no  necessity  to  look  today  with  a 
Diogenes'  lantern  for  educated  preachers  and  teachers 


44  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

fully  acquainted  with  the  English  language  and  con- 
versant with  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  country."9 
He  felt  that  American  leaders  were  needed  for 
American  congregations.  He  could  not  reconcile 
himself  to  the  thought  that  young  men  should  be 
sent  from  this  country  to  Germany  for  their  rabbinical 
training  and  higher  education.  He  felt  that  Israel  in 
America  was  orphaned  so  long  as  the  congregations 
were  not  shepherded  by  men  of  American  training  and 
filled  with  the  American  spirit.  The  columns  of  the 
Israelite  teem  with  editorial  comments  on  this  theme. 
Nothing  daunted  by  the  Zion  College  experience  he 
challenged  the  attention  of  his  readers  without  pause 
and  without  ceasing.  Thus  in  January  1856  he 
asked,  "Must  not  we,  as  well  at  least  as  the  other 
religious  denominations,  also  establish  and  support 
a  seat  of  learning?"  and  in  November  1858  he  wrote, 
"Our  cause  in  America  requires  American  rabbis  and 
teachers  with  American  principles  and  eloquence,  who 
are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  our  mode  of  thinking 
and  believing,  our  sentiments  and  convictions  as  they 
are  to  inculcate  God's  words  in  American  hearts; 
therefore  we  must  educate  American  rabbis  and 
teachers.  .  .  .  Let  us  not  forget  to  reflect  on  this 
subject."  He  believed  thoroughly  in  the  power  of 
repetition  as  the  most  effective  weapon  to  impress  an 
idea;  hence  we  find  him  writing  time  and  again  words 
to  this  effect :  "As  long  as  we  must  import  our  ministers 
and  writers,  we  will  be  orphans  in  America,  and  as 
long  as  we  have  no  college  of  our  own,  where  Judaism 
is  a  branch  of  study,  we  cannot  expect  ministers  and 

9  Reminiscences  p.  325. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  45 


writers  for  our  cause."  More  and  more  imperative 
grew  the  need  for  American  rabbis  as  the  years 
passed  for  a  new  generation  of  Jews  born  in  America 
was  being  educated  in  American  public  schools;  this 
led  the  intrepid  interpreter  of  American  Judaism  to 
write  in  1869:  "In  twenty  years  or  less,  four-fifths 
of  the  American  Israelites  will  not  understand  much 
more  German  than  French;  but  they  will  have  to 
import  preachers  and  teachers  from  Europe  as  they  do 
now,  because  no  American  Israelites  study  theology. 
Why  do  they  not?  .  .  .  We  must  learn  where  the 
fault  lies,  and  we  must  remove  the  obstacles;  if 
we  do  not,  the  American  Temple  will  in  twenty  years 
be  an  outlandish  institution  of  which  passing  men  and 
women  will  say,  'Here  my  father  and  mother  used  to 
worship.  .  .  . '  We  must  have  American  preachers 
and  teachers,  cost  what  it  may.  Wre  must  have  them 
as  early  as  possible,  if  we  have  soul  enough  to  love 
and  heart  enough  to  support  our  cause.  Wfe  want 
concert  of  action  and  a  union  of  many,  many  purses 
and  the  balance  will  come  of  itself."10 

It  was  a  long  campaign  of  education  which  the 
nineteenth  century  seer  of  American  Jewry  conducted ; 
besides  advocating  the  need  of  a  rabbinical  training 
school  in  the  columns  of  his  newspaper,  he  travelled 
up  and  down  the  land  exhorting  Jewish  communities 
everywhere  to  be  up  and  doing.  He  sounded  this  note 
in  season  and  out  of  season.  By  personal  contact  he 
built  up  a  large  following  notably  in  the  Middle  West 
and  the  South.  His  untiring  endeavors  were  rewarded 

10For  these  and  other  expressions  on  this  subject  cf.  May, 
Isaac  Mayer  Wise  262  ff. 


46  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

at  last.  Under  his  inspiration  and  guidance  his  own 
Cincinnati  people  in  both  his  own  and  the  other 
congregations  of  the  city  finally  took  the  first  practical 
step  towards  the  long  wished  for  goal.  A  general 
committee  was  formed  which  in  May  1873  resolved 
"to  issue  a  call  to  all  congregations  in  the  West  and 
South  for  a  congregational  convention  to  form  a 
Union  of  Congregations  under  whose  auspices  a 
'Jewish  Theological  Institute'  shall  be  established 
.  .  ."u  As  has  already  been  told,  that  convention  was 
held  in  July  of  that  year  and  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations  was  organized  there  and  then ; 
the  first  object  of  that  Union  was  declared  to  be  the 
establishment  of  a  "Hebrew  Theological  College  to 
preserve  Judaism  intact,  to  bequeath  it  in  its  purity 
and  sublimity  to  posterity,  to  Israel  united  and 
fraternized,  to  establish,  sustain  and  govern  a  seat 
of  learning,  for  Israel's  religion  and  learning." 

The  hope  long  deferred  was  realized.  The  joy 
which  possessed  the  sturdy  fighter  was  given  ex- 
pression to  in  ecstatic  terms.  After  years  of  strife 
with  oppositon,  of  struggle  with  indifference,  of 
unceasing  effort  and  uninterrupted  endeavor,  the 
goal  was  within  reach.  Two  years  were  to  elapse 
however  before  it  was  finally  attained.  During  these 
two  years  the  practical  measures  preliminary  to  the 
actual  opening  of  the  institution  were  worked  out. 
At  last  the  day  of  fulfilment  dawned.  Who  that  was 
present  will  ever  forget  the  impressive  service  in  the 
Plum  St.  Temple  on  the  third  day  of  October  1875 
when  the  great  organizer  of  the  reform  religious  forces 
"Ibid  280. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  47 


of  American  Jewry,  too  deeply  moved  to  speak  at 
great  length,  simply  expressed  his  joy  that  after 
twenty-six  years  of  struggle  his  labors  had  been 
crowned  with  success.  He  could  not  find  words 
adequate  to  express  his  feelings.  The  occasion  spoke 
louder  than  words  the  most  eloquent.  To  his  mind 
the  safety  and  continuance  of  American  Judaism 
were  now  assured. 

Many  as  were  his  interests  during  the  remaining 
twenty-four  years  of  his  life  the  Hebrew  Union  College 
held  first  place  in  his  thoughts  and  his  affections.  It 
was  the  child  of  his  spirit.  To  it  he  devoted  time  and 
energy.  The  beginnings  were  very  small.  At  times 
it  seemed  scarcely  possible  to  continue  the  work. 
The  prospect  was  often  dark.  Encouragement  fre- 
quently failed.  Material  and  financial  support  was 
slow  in  coming  forward.  Undismayed  though  often 
discouraged,  the  father  of  the  college  pressed  forward. 
He  would  not  relinquish  what  had  been  gained.  If 
only  the  pioneer  years  of  storm  and  stress  would  be 
safely  weathered,  the  haven  must  be  reached  where 
the  ship  which  was  carrying  all  the  hopes  of  American 
Jewry  would  rest  in  security.  That  haven  was 
indeed  reached  when  the  first  ordination  of  rabbis 
took  place  in  July  1883.  The  objectors  were  silenced, 
the  mockers  were  put  to  shame.  Triumph  had  come 
at  last.  American  congregations  would  now  be  led 
by  men  who  could  interpret  the  age  old  truths  of 
Judaism  in  the  language  of  the  land  and  in  accord 
with  the  free  spirit  of  America.  What  pen  can 
describe  the  feelings  of  master  and  pupils  in  that 
supreme  moment  of  the  late  afternoon  of  July  14, 


48  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


1883,  when  the  hand  of  the  master  was  laid  in  blessing 
upon  the  heads  of  the  first  four  graduates  of  the  in- 
stitution and  his  lips  pressed  their  brows  in  the  kiss  of 
consecration!  There  are  occasions  when  words  fail. 
Silence  is  the  most  appropriate  tribute.  So  be  it 
now  when  memory  recalls  to  the  writer  that  high 
point  in  life's  onward  journey. 

The  ensuing  years  witnessed  the  growing  develop- 
ment of  the  institution.  Students  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  land.  Each  year  the  beloved  spiritual 
father  welcomed  his  "boys"  on  the  opening  day  with 
loving  words.  Each  day  during  the  scholastic  year 
found  him  at  his  post  in  the  class  room,  serving 
voluntarily  and  devoting  his  great  powers  gladly  and 
freely  to  the  education  of  Israel's  future  leaders 
Through  these  leaders  one  hundred  and  eighty -eight 
of  whom  have  been  graduated,  the  college  has  be- 
come the  corner  stone  of  the  temple  of  progressive 
American  Judaism.  The  unconquerable  spirit  of 
Isaac  M.  Wise  achieved  this.  Through  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  he  became  the  foremost  benefactor  of 
American  Judaism.  Had  he  done  nothing  else  but 
found  this  institution  it  would  have  been  enough 
But  he  did  much  more.  And  because  of  all  that  he 
dared  and  achieved,  it  may  be  claimed,  without 
detracting  in  any  way  from  the  merit  of  others,  that 
his  is  the  first  place  among  the  religious  leaders  in 
American  Israel.  In  the  Hebrew  Union  College  he 
built  his  own  perpetual  memorial.  The  present 
beautiful  buildings  he  did  not  live  to  see  but  though 
in  a  literal  sense,  he  took  no  part  in  their  erection, 
they  are  none  the  less  his  memorial.  And  should  in 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  49 

the  course  of  time  the  institution  occupy  a  new  and 
even  more  magnificent  home,  this  too  will  be  his 
memorial.  For  the  house  is  but  the  palpable  show  of 
the  spirit  which  dwells  within.  The  glowing  spirit 
of  Isaac  M.  Wise  brought  into  being  the  spiritual 
Hebrew "  Union  College.  That  glowing  spirit  is 
eternal.  Though  the  glory  of  the  second  home  of  the 
College  surpasses  anything  that  the  founder  ever  in- 
dulged in  his  fondest  dreams,  it  is  but  the  reflection 
of  his  indomitable  spirit.  That  spirit  is  marching 
on  in  the  continuing  work  of  the  College  and  its 
graduates.  Isaac  M.  Wise  built  for  the  ages.  Long 
as  Judaism  shall  exist  in  America  his  name  shall 
stand  among  the  highest  in  the  record  of  spiritual 
achievement. 

AMERICANISM  AND  ZIONISM 

Whoever  came  into  close  contact  with  Dr.  Wise 
must  have  been  impressed  with  his  democratic 
sympathies  and  his  intense  faith  in  America  and 
American  institutions.  In  one  of  his  many  con- 
versations with  the  writer  he  set  forth  the  reasons 
for  his  leaving  his  native  land  and  finally  summed 
them  up  in  the  sentence  "I  had  the  American  fever." 
The  fervency  for  America  which  impelled  him  to  seek 
these  shores  never  diminished  in  ardor.  He  had  a 
wholesome  dislike  for  the  autocratic  system  of 
government  which  obtained  in  Austria.  Because  of 
this  dislike  he  never  returned  to  Europe  even  for  a 
visit.  The  only  time  he  ever  had  any  desire  to  go 
back  to  Europe  was  in  the  revolutionary  year  1848. 
The  reports  of  the  struggles  for  freedom  awoke  a 


50  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

responsive  echo  in  his  democratic  soul.  He  had 
however  found  his  life  work  in  the  United  States. 
That  life  work  was  the  welding  of  the  spirit  of  Judaism 
with  the  spirit  of  America.  This  is  the  keynote  of  all 
his  activity.  How  constant  this  aim  was  from  the 
very  beginning  appears  throughout  his  own  auto- 
biographical story.  In  writing  of  his  early  days  in 
Albany  in  1846  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "an  enthusi- 
ast on  the  subjects  of  America  and  freedom,"12  and 
he  defined  this  program  of  action  at  that  time  ni 
these  words:  "It  was  perfectly  evident  to  me  that 
Judaism  would  have  no  future  in  America  unless 
mighty  upheavals,  accompanied  by  constructive 
action  would  arouse  the  better  element  into  action, 
awaken  and  attract  the  thoughtless  and  indifferent, 
so  that  it  would  become  reconciled  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age  and  the  opinions  prevalent  in  the  new  father- 
land."13 No  words  can  describe  better  than  these 
the  ideas  underlying  his  entire  future  course  of  action. 
One  more  passage  from  his  Reminiscences  descriptive 
of  his  thought  two  years  later  (1856)  must  be  set 
down  here  for  it  burns  with  his  passion  for  America 
and  Americanism.  "The  Jew  must  be  Americanized, 
I  said  to  myself,  for  every  German  book,  every  German 
word  reminds  him  of  his  old  disgrace.  If  he  con- 
tinues under  German  influences  as  they  are  now  in  this 
country,  he  must  become  either  a  bigot  or  an  atheist, 
a  satellite  or  a  tyrant.  He  will  never  be  aroused 
to  self  consciousness  or  to  independent  thought. 
The  Jew  must  become  an  American  in  order  to  gain 

12 Reminiscences  p.  49. 
13Ibid  85. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  51 

the  proud  self  consciousness  of  the  free  born  man. 
From  that  hour  I  began  to  Americanize  with  all  my 
might,  and  was  as  enthusiastic  for  this  as  I  was  for 
reform.  Since  then,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the 
German  element  here  as  well  as  in  Germany,  has 
completely  changed,  although  Judeophobia  and  un- 
couthness  have  survived  in  many;  but  at  that  time 
it  appeared  to  me  that  there  was  but  one  remedy  that 
would  prove  effective  for  my  co-religionists  and  that 
was  to  Americanize  them  thoroughly.  We  must  be 
not  only  American  citizens,  but  become  Americans 
through  and  through  outside  of  the  synagogue.  This 
was  my  cry  then  and  many  years  thereafter."14 

Time  and  again  he  reverted  to  this  subject.  One 
need  take  only  a  cursory  glance  through  the  volumes 
of  his  organ,  to  become  convinced  how  prominently 
this  doctrine  of  Americanism  continues  to  stand  forth 
in  his  public  utterances.  He  and  his  colleague,  Dr. 
Max  Lilienthal,  although  of  foreign  birth  were  Ameri- 
can in  the  fullest  sense  for  they  had  imbibed  the 
American  spirit.  They  loved  this  country  and  the 
ideals  for  which  it  stands.  For  Wise  the  United 
States  represented  the  hope  of  the  world  and  inci- 
dentally the  hope  of  Judaism  and  its  future.  When 
anti-Semitism  became  rampant  in  Germany  in  the 
late  seventies  and  early  eighties  he  became  even 
more  deeply  convinced  of  this  than  he  had  been 
befoie,  if  this  were  possible.  The  horrible  persecution 
of  the  Jews  in  Russia  beginning  in  1881  and  continuing 
for  many  years  thereafter  in  the  guise  of  pogrom, 
murder  and  pillage  made  him  despair  of  betterment 

14Ibid  331. 


52  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

of  the  European  situation  and  carried  him  on  the 
other  hand  to  exalt  America  in  ever  more  lofty  strains. 
He  frequently  contrasted  Russian  Judaism  with 
American  Judaism.  He  felt  that  in  the  whirligig  of 
time  these  two  had  come  into  conflict  in  this  country. 
Russian  Judaism  represented  for  him  the  result  of  a 
cramped  environment  of  oppression,  American  Ju- 
daism the  outcome  of  free  life.  He  did  all  in  his 
power  to  assist  in  aiding  the  hapless  victims  of 
Russian  persecution  and  was  happy  in  the  thought 
that  they  were  finding  a  refuge  in  this  land  of  free- 
dom, but  yet  he  viewed  with  alarm  the  effect  upon 
Judaism  in  this  country  that  these  myriads  of  new 
comers  might  have.  The  old  fight  for  Americanism 
which  had  engaged  his  energies  in  early  years  had 
now  to  be  resumed.  There  was  danger  of  a 
russification  of  Jew  and  Judaism.  He  took  up  the 
cudgels  anew.  The  Russian  Jew  had  brought  to 
this  country  the  Russian  Jewish  point  of  view.  In 
Russia  the  Jews  were  a  separate  national  element; 
they  were  not  Russian  of  the  Russians;  they  did  not 
speak  the  language  of  the  country  but  had  a  language 
of  their. own,  the  mongrel  yiddish.  They  were  aliens 
in  the  land  of  their  birth.  Dr.  Wise  recognized  the 
danger  of  their  view  points  to  the  welfare  of  Jew  and 
Judaism  in  the  United  States.  These  were  antipodal 
to  all  that  he  had  taught  and  contended  for  during 
his  whole  career.  He  set  his  face  like  flint  against  the 
yiddish  cult.  He  fought  the  doctrine  of  Jewish 
nationalistic  separatism  tooth  and  nail.  Yiddishism 
and  Zionism  were  to  him  anathema  for  they  seemed 
to  him  to  undermine  the  very  foundations  of  American 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  53 


Reform  Judaism  and  to  endanger  the  stability  of 
the  structure  at  the  erection  of  which  he  had  labored 
all  his  years.  He  spoke  in  no  uncertain  tones  con- 
cerning political  Zionism.  He  recognized  fully  that 
the  antagonism  between  universalistic  Judaism  as 
taught  by  the  reform  movement  and  nationalism  as 
defined  in  the  Zionistic  program  was  deep  seated  and 
vital.  During  the  four  years  which  intervened 
between  the  time  that  Theodor  Herzl  published  his 
pamphlet  "The  Jewish  State"  and  Dr.  Wise's  death 
the  great  reformer  continually  set  forth  the  danger  of 
Zionism.  He  raised  a  warning  voice  against  this 
neo-nationalism  time  and  again.  He  felt  that  Zionism 
struck  at  the  very  roots  of  the  great  institutions  which 
he  had  called  into  being,  and  therefore  felt  it  his  duty 
to  have  record  made  of  the  attitude  of  these  institu- 
tions towards  Zionism. 

At  the.  meeting  of  the  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis  held  at  Montreal  in  July  1897 
Dr.  Wise  devoted  a  great  portion  of  his  presidential 
message  to  a  discussion  of  Zionism.  He  said:  "I 
consider  it  my  duty  also,  Rev.  Colleagues,  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  political  projects  engaging  now 
a  considerable  portion  of  our  co-religionists  in  Europe 
and  also  in  our  country,  especially  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  other  large  cities.  I  refer, 
of  course,  to  the  so-called  'Friends  of  Zion,'  Chovavei 
Zion,  who  revive  among  certain  classes  of  people  the 
political  national  sentiment  of  olden  times,  and  turn 
the  mission  of  Israel  from  the  province  of  religion  and 
humanity  to  the  narrow  political  and  national  field, 
where  Judaism  loses  its  universal  and  sanctified 


54  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


ground  and  its  historical  signification.  The  persecu- 
tion of  the  Jews  in  Russia  and  Roumania  and  the 
anti-Semitic  hatred  against  the  Jewish  race  and 
religion,  as  it  still  exists  in  Germany,  Austria,  and 
partly  in  France,  roused  among  the  persecuted  and 
outraged  persons  the  hapless  feeling  of  being  hated 
strangers  among  hostile  Gentiles.  It  was  quite 
natural  that  this  humiliating  experience  roused  in 
their  memory  the  glory  of  the  past  when  Israel  was 
the  great  nation,  the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  in- 
spired in  them  the  consolation,  'We  are  a  great 
nation  yet.'  So  the  wronged  man  revenges  himself 
on  his  oppressors  generally  with  the  pretext:  I  am  as 
good  and  better  than  you.  Generally  speaking  it  is 
true,  the  persecuted  is  always  better  than  his  perse- 
cutors. This  experience  roused  in  those  outraged 
men  and  women  the  old  hope  of  restoration,  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Hebrew  nationality,  as  in  days  of 
yore.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  the  coloniza- 
tion of  Palestine  with  Jewish  agriculturists.  This, 
of  course,  found  favor  and  support  among  all  good 
people,  not  indeed  for  the  sake  of  Zion,  but  for  the 
redemption  of  the  persecuted  and  with  the  conviction 
that  those  poor  neglected  families  can  be  redeemed 
morally  and  physically  only  by  making  of  them 
honest  and  industrious  tillers  of  the  soil.  Idealists 
and  religious  phantasts  took  hold  upon  this  situation 
and  made  of  it  a  general  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and 
their  returning  to  the  Holy  Land,  although  the 
greatest  number  of  Jewish  citizens  in  the  countries 
where  they  enjoy  all  civil  and  political  rights,  loudly 
disavowed  any  such  beliefs,  hopes,  or  wishes;  yet  the 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  55 


persecuted  and  expatriated  from  Russia  and  such 
other  countries  preached  their  new  doctrine  loudly 
and  emphatically,  and  found  advocates  and  friends  also 
among  Christians,  more  so  even  than  among  Jews. 
At  last  politicians  seized  the  situation,  and  one  of 
them,  called  Dr.  Herzl,  proposed  to  establish  and 
constitute  at  once  the  Jewish  State  in  Palestine, 
worked  the  scheme  and  placed  it  so  eloquently  before 
the  Jewish  communities,  that  the  Utopian  idea  of  a  Jew- 
ish State  took  hold  of  many  minds,  and  a  congress  of  all 
Friends  of  Zion  was  convoked  in  the  city  of  Munich, 
to  meet  there  in  August  next.  However,  all  this  agi- 
tation on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  concerned  us  very 
little.  We  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  our  political 
and  social  position.  It  can  make  no  difference  to  us, 
in  what  form  our  fellow-citizens  worship  God,  or 
what  particular  spot  of  the  earth's  surface  we  occupy. 
We  want  freedom,  equality,  justice,  and  equity  to 
reign  and  govern  the  community  in  which  we  live. 
This  we  possess  in  such  a  fulness  that  no  State  what- 
ever could  improve  on  it.  That  new  Messianic 
movement  over  the  ocean  does  not  concern  us  at  all. 
But  the  same  expatriated,  persecuted,  and  out- 
rageously wronged  people  came  in  large  numbers  also 
to  us,  and  they  being  still  imbued  with  their  home 
ideas,  ideals,  and  beliefs,  voiced  these  projects  among 
themselves  and  their  friends  so  loudly  and  so  ve- 
hemently, that  the  subject  was  discussed  rather  pas- 
sionately in  public  meetings,  and  some  petty  poli- 
ticians of  that  class  were  appointed  as  delegates,  we 
learn,  to  the  Munich  congress,  and  in  each  case  of  those 
meetings,  as  reported  by  the  press,  so  an  so  many  rabbis 


56  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

advocated  those  political  schemes,  and  compromised  in 
the  eyes  of  the  public  the  whole  of  American  Judaism 
as  the  phantastic  dupes  of  a  thoughtless  Utopia,  which 
is  to  us  a  fata  morgana,  a  momentary  inebriation  of 
morbid  minds,  and  a  prostitution  of  Israel's  holy 
cause  to  a  madman's  dance  of  unsound  politicians. 
Some  of  our  colleagues — I  recollect  just  now  Dr. 
Gottheil  and  Dr.  Kohler — gave  utterance  to  our 
opinions  in  the  New  York  meeting.  But  the  news- 
paper world  knows  not  difference  of  persons  and  dig- 
nitaries, it  reported  to  all  the  world  that  so  and  so 
many  rabbis  advocated  the  scheme  and  two  opposed  it. 
The  honour  and  position  of  the  American  Israel 
demand  imperatively  that  this  conference,  which 
does  represent  the  sentiments  of  American  Judaism, 
minus  the  idiosyncracies  of  those  late  immigrants, 
declare  officially  the  American  standpoint  in  this  un- 
pleasant episode  of  our  history."15 

The  Committee  to  whom  the  president's  message 
was  referred  reported  a  resolution  which  was  adopted 
unanimously  by  the  members  present.16 

In  his  presidential  address  at  the  opening  of  the 
Hebrew  Union  College  in  September  1897  Dr.  Wise 
admonished  the  assembled  students  in  these  words: 
"Talmud  Torah  is  the  curriculum  of  this  college.  We 
want  teachers  of  Judaism.  Judaism,  we  say,  and  not 
nationalism,  Judaism  and  not  Zionism,  Judaism  and 
not  Messiahism  of  any  kind;  that  eternal  Judaism 

15Year  Book  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  for 
1897-98,  pp.  X-XII. 

16Infra,  "The  Principles  and  Achievements  of  the  Central 
Conference  of  American  Rabbis"  p.  214. 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  57 

which  is  not  tied  down  to  a  certain  piece  of  land  here 
or  there,  or  to  a  certain  form  of  government  and 
peculiar  laws  and  institutions.  We  teach  and  train 
students  for  the  office  of  teachers  that  are  loyal  and 
patriotic  citizens  of  our  own  country  and  our  entire 
nation  among  whom  we  live  and  of  whom  we  are  an 
integral  element."  No  equivocation  here;  the  sent- 
ences are  crisp  and  to  the  point ;  the  thought  is  clear. 
The  great  president  went  so  far  as  to  contrast  Judaism 
with  nationalism,  or  Zionism;  in  his  thought  they 
were  antagonistic. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations  to  take  place  after  the  official  hirth  of 
the  Zionist  movement  at  Basle,  Switzerland,  was  that 
held  at  Richmond,  Va.,  in  December  1898.  With  the 
passing  of  time  Dr.  Wise  had  grown  even  more  firmly 
convinced,  if  that  were  possible,  of  the  basic  conflict 
between  Zionism  and  the  interpretation  of  Judaism 
which  he  had  championed  for  over  half  a  century,  the 
interpretation  too  which  was  represented  by  the 
congregational  union.  He  felt  that  the  delegates  of 
the  congregations  assembled  at  Richmond  should 
place  the  Union  on  record.  He  asked  the  writer  to 
bring  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the  meeting. 
His  request  was  complied  with  and  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  was  moved  to  formulate  a  statement 
for  submission  to  the  convention.  The  statement 
which  met  with  Dr.  Wise's  full  concurrence  and  which 
was  adopted  by  the  delegates  reads:  "We  are  un- 
alterably opposed  to  political  Zionism.  The  Jews 
are  not  a  nation  but  a  religious  community.  Zion 
was  a  precious  possession  of  the  past,  the  early  home 


58  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

of  our  faith  where  our  prophets  uttered  their  world 
subduing  thoughts  and  our  psalmists  sang  their  world 
enchanting  hymns.  As  such  it  is  a  holy  memory 
but  it  is  not  our  hope  of  the  future.  America  is 
our  Zion.  Here,  in  the  home  of  religious  liberty,  we 
have  aided  in  founding  this  new  Zion,  the  fruition 
of  the  beginning  laid  in  the  old.  The  mission  of 
Judaism  is  spiritual,  not  political.  Its  aim  is  not  to 
establish  a  State  but  to  spread  the  truth  of  religion 
and  humanity  throughout  the  world." 

Well  nigh  a  score  of  years  has  elapsed  since  the 
great  master  was  called  to  his  eternal  rest.  It  has  been 
asserted  now  and  then  by  disciples  of  his  who  have 
become  recreant  to  his  teaching  that  had  Dr.  Wise 
lived  longer  he  would  have  ceased  his  opposition  to 
Zionism  and  in  the  light  of  events  which  have 
taken  place  would  even  have  become  a  supporter 
of  the  movement.  Such  statements  are  altogether 
unwarranted.  The  whole  trend  of  Dr.  Wise's 
thought  was  along  the  lines  of  universalistic  Ju- 
daism and  against  all  narrowing  interpretations. 
For  him  Judaism  was  a  religion,  not  a  political  program. 
He  stated  this  time  and  again  but  never  more  in- 
cessively  than  in  the  rejection  of  a  proposal  made  by 
a  prominent  orthodox  rabbi  in  1889  that  the  Jews 
hold  a  special  celebration  of  Columbus  Day.  "We 
are  Jews  in  religion  and  religion  only  and  exclusively," 
he  wrote.  "In  all  other  respects  we  are  members  of 
the  human  family  and  in  every  country  citizens  and  an 
integral  portion  of  that  country's  population,  sharing 
equally  with  its  interests,  ideals,  rights  and  obliga- 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  59 


tions.  .  .  We  cannot  and  do  not  admit  that  we  are 
anywhere  a  distinct  element  of  the  population,  any 
more  than  the  Methodists,  Baptists,  Catholics,  Pres- 
byterians, Episcopalians  and  Dissenters.  We  cannot 
and  will  not  make  any  Jewish  demonstration  in 
memory  of  an  event  which  belongs  to  the  history  of 
mankind.  W7e  can  not  and  will  not  single  ourselves 
out  as  a  special  political  community  and  erect  for 
ourselves  a  modern  Ghetto."17 

All  Jewish  political  separatism  was  repugnant  to 
him  and  ghettoism  in  any  guise  abhorrent.  It  is  un- 
thinkable that  he  should  have  become  untrue  to  his 
innermost  convictions. 

Despite  all  untoward  happenings,  despite  Germany's 
anti-Semitism  and  Russia's  persecutions  of  Jews,  de- 
spite Roumania's  broken  troth  in  alienizing  her 
Jewish  children,  he  never  despaired  of  the  final  victory 
of  right.  Zionism  spelt  for  him  the  relinquishment  of 
all  that  he  had  taught  and  preached  for  over  half  a 
century.  One  can  judge  a  man  only  from  his  words 
and  deeds.  And  so  judging,  I  believe  it  may  be  said 
without  fear  of  contradiction  that  had  it  been  given 
Isaac  M.  Wise  to  round  out  a  century  on  this  earth 
and  to  have  seen  victory  crowning  the  aims  of  America 
and  her  allies  in  the  great  world  war,  he  would  have 
hailed  this  victory  as  a  triumph  of  the  ideals  which 
he  had  championed  all  his  life,  the  ideals  of  democracy 
and  freedom.  And  as  far  as  the  fortunes  of  his  co- 
religionists are  concerned  he  would  have  urged  as 


"American   Israelite,  Vol.  XXXV,   No.  52,  quoted  May, 
Isaac  Mayer  Wise,  347. 


60  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

always  that  Jews  everywhere  must  be  given  the  rights 
of  men  so  that  all  lands  should  become  the  national 
homes  of  the  Jews  there  born  and  there  living.  Then 
and  then  alone  would  he  have  felt  the  so-called  Jewish 
question  to  be  solved.  If  I  read  his  thought  aright 
and  I  believe  I  do,  he  would  today  as  throughout  his 
life,  be  at  the  forefront  of  those  who  regard  Israel  as 
an  international  religious  community  and  not  as  a 
politico-nationalistic  unit  leading  a  separate  group 
existence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Of  this  universalistic  interpretation  of  Judaism  he 
was  one  of  the  latter  day  prophets.  Dark  clouds 
had  appeared  frequently  on  the  horizon  during  his 
life  time  but  he  never  lost  heart  completely.  He 
continued  optimistic  and  forward  looking  to  the  very 
end.  His  elasticity  and  youthfulness  of  spirit  never 
forsook  him.  Who  that  was  present  on  the  memor- 
able occasion  of  the  celebration  of  his  eightieth 
birthday  can  ever  forget  that  thrilling  moment  when 
at  the  very  close  of  a  prolonged  celebration,  the 
hero  of  the  hour,  the  ever  youthful  octogenarian, 
in  response  to  the  call  that  he  speak  a  few  words 
before  the  gathering  dispersed,  arose  in  his  place 
and  gave  voice  to  the  prophetic  utterance:  "The 
teachings  of  reform  Judaism  will  be  the  religion 
of  the  twentieth  century."  Bold  words,  but  an- 
nounced with  all  the  intensity  of  conviction.  These 
words  were  spoken  in  the  closing  year  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  and  just  one  year  before  the  final 
curtain  was  rung  down  on  the  stirring  drama  of  the 
hero's  life.  It  was  granted  him  to  see  but  a  few 
months  of  that  twentieth  century  concerning  which 


ISAAC  MAYER  WISE  61 

he  made  that  startling  prediction.  Nineteen  years 
have  rolled  by  since  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers. 
The  twentieth  century  is  well  on  its  way.  It  has 
proved  thus  far  the  most  momentous  period  in  the 
world's  history.  The  very  foundations  of  civilization 
are  rocking.  Men's  thoughts  are  revolutionized. 
A  new  order  is  at  hand,  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth.  During  the  four  years  of  the  world  war  men's 
souls  have  been  tried.  Religions  are  being  weighed 
in  the  balance.  The  fundamentals  are  being  sought. 
Did  Isaac  M.  Wise  glimpse  these  things  when  he 
made  that  prophetic  utterance?  Are  universalism 
and  internationalism,  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  doctrines  which  lie  at  the  very 
root  of  reform  Judaism  as  Isaac  M .  Wise  conceived 
it  to  be  really  the  foundations  of  the  new  world  order? 
If  so,  and  thus  it  certainly  appears,  then  was  he  a 
true  prophet. 

In  that  faith  he  lived  and  in  that  faith  he  died. 
His  entire  life  was  a  progression.  Obstacles  were 
often  thrown  in  his  way,  and  though  he  might  be 
momentarily  discouraged,  his  dauntless  spirit  con- 
quered and  he  began  the  contest  anew.  He  went 
from  strength  to  strength.  He  bore  down  all  op- 
position, he  triumped  over  every  difficulty.  He  was 
a  master  in  the  sphere  of  his  activity.  When  the 
end  came  life  for  him  was  all  complete.  The  visions 
of  his  youth  had  become  realized.  Great  institutions 
in  American  Judaism  had  arisen  as  he  had  planned 
them.  He  had  grandly  conceived,  and  he  had 
grandly  achieved.  His  soul  is  marching  on.  He 
speaks  today  through  his  disciples  from  scores  of 


62  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

pulpits.  On  this  occasion  of  the  centenary  of  his 
birth,  as  so  frequently  before,  thousands  are  arising 
and  calling  him  blessed.  Blessed  was  he  in  his 
coming  into  life,  blessed  was  he  in  his  earthly  activity, 
blessed  shall  be  his  name  throughout  eternity. 


(1806-1860) 

GREAT  movements  are  identified  with  great  per- 
sonalities. The  frequently  used  phrase,  the  "spirit 
of  the  age"  is  meaningless  unless  it  be  understood  as 
signifying  the  spirit  which  finds  expression  through 
the  thoughts  and  words  of  the  men  of  the  age;  as 
Goethe  put  it,  "Der  Zeitgeist  ist  der  Herren  Geist." 
Every  forward  movement  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  been  given  force  by  the  great  spirits  who  have 
interpreted  it  to  their  contemporaries.  The  birth 
years  of  a  new  movement  usually  produce  the  mighty 
protagonists  who  shape  the  course  of  the  movement. 
Whether  the  movement  produces  the  men  or  the 
men  create  the  movement  is  too  large  a  question  to 
be  considered  here.  But  this  much  may  be  said  that 
when  in  the  providence  of  God  the  silent  forces  which 
may  have  been  working  for  centuries  become  actuali- 
zed by  visible  phenomena,  prophets  arise  who  grasp 
the  significance  of  the  new  revelation  of  God  in  the 
history  of  their  time  and  translate  this  renewed 
manifestation  of  the  divine  spirit  into  language 
intelligible  to  the  men  cf  their  generation.  So  was 
it  also  with  the  reform  movement  in  Judaism  In 
the  course  of  the  first  half  century  of  its  existence; 
great  men  arose  whose  names  will  stand  forth  as  its 


1  Centenary  address  at  meeting  of  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis,  July  4,  1906,  at  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


63 


64  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

prophets  for  all  time.  This  year  nineteen  hundred 
and  six  marks  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  Samuel 
Holdheim,  the  keenest  and  most  incisive  thinker 
among  the  early  leaders  of  the  Jewish  reform  move- 
ment and  the  man,  who,  with  Abraham  Geiger,  will 
always  occupy  the  foremost  place  among  the  rabbis  of 
reform  Judaism's  creative  period. 

Holdheim  was  born  in  the  town  of  Kempen  in 
Prussian  Poland.  His  early  education  was  similar 
to  that  received  by  all  Jewish  youths  of  parts  in  those 
days;  his  keen  mind  grappled  readily  with  the  subtle- 
ties of  Talmudical  dialectics,  and  he  was  easily  the 
most  promising  among  the  bachurim  of  his  native 
place.  His  exceptional  gifts  marked  him  as  likely 
to  have  a  distinguished  rabbinical  career;  had  he 
lived  a  hundred  years  earlier,  he  would  in  all  likeli- 
hood have  become  a  rabbi  of  renown  of  the  traditional 
school,  head  of  some  celebrated  yeshibah,  and  writer  of 
pilpulistic  works.  As  it  was,  however,  his  youth 
fell  in  the  years  when  the  opportunities  of  education 
in  the  universities  were  open  to  the  Jews;  from  all 
portions  of  Germany  eager  Jewish  youths  flocked  to 
the  universities  and  drank  eagerly  at  the  springs  of 
secular  learning.  The  brilliant  bachur  of  Kempen, 
one  of  whose  dialectical  feats  had  amazed  the  rabbini- 
cal authorities  of  the  congregation  when  he  was  little 
more  than  a  boy,  was  also  seized  with  the  desire  to 
supplement  his  Hebrew  knowledge  with  a  university 
education;  he  made  his  way  to  the  great  institutions 
of  higher  academic  learning  at  Prague  and  Berlin. 
Here  he  studied  particularly  philosophy  and  the 
humanities.  True,  he  lacked  orderly  systematic  early 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  65 

preparation,  but  his  sharp  mentality  enabled  him  to 
grasp  the  newer  learning  and  to  appreciate  the  wider 
outlook  which  it  opened  up  before  him.  Thus 
equipped,  combining  the  rabbinical  learning  of  the 
Talmudical  adept  and  the  philosophical  attainments 
of  the  university  student,  he  entered  upon  his  life's 
work.  Many  Jewish  congregations  of  that  day,  often 
because  the  government  had  so  decreed  it,  sought 
as  their  rabbis  young  men  who  had  not  only  received 
the  Hattarath  haraah  from  some  rabbinical  worthy  of 
acknowledged  authority  and  standing,  thus  being 
declared  capable  of  deciding  questions  of  rabbinical 
law  and  performing  rabbinical  judicial  functions, 
but  who  also  in  addition  to  this  were  able  to  preach 
in  the  vernacular,  thus  joining  in  their  persons  the 
old  and  the  new,  and  standing  in  all  truth,  as  did  Aaron 
of  old,  between  the  quick  and  the  dead.  Holdheim 
began  his  active  rabbinical  career  in  this  spirit  in  the 
congregation  of  Frankfort  on  the  Oder;  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  thirty  when  he  entered  upon  his 
office  in  this  community  and  continued  there  four 
years.  These  years  were  weighty  in  the  development 
of  his  religious  ideas.  True,  he  departed  not  one  jot 
from  traditional  lines  in  the  active  administration 
of  his  office;  he  judged  and  decided  all  the  ritual 
questions  that  came  to  him  according  to  the  norm 
and  rule  of  the  shulchan  arukh.  But  in  his  preaching 
there  is  already  discernible  the  seed  of  future  growth. 
There  is  a  tendency  to  impart  a  symbolical  signifi- 
cance to  ceremonial  institutions.  Now,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  this  was  nothing  new.  Ibn  Ezra  and 
Maimonides  had  already  done  this.  But  the  symboli- 


66  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


zation  of  ceremony  and  custom  is  the  germ  of  reform. 
The  simon-pure  orthodox  believer  performs  a  com- 
manded ceremony  or  religious  act  simply  because  it  is 
ordained;  imrft  D'NBn  onx  pao  rnu  mm  Tippn  npin 
"inx  "thus  it  is  commanded,"  is  the  only  warrant  which 
he  requires;  not  for  him  to  seek  any  hidden  or  symbol- 
ical significance  which  will  in  some  way  harmonize  the 
ceremony  or  religious  command  with  his  intellectual 
outlook. 

The  incipiency  of  Holdheim's  later  career  is  thus 
discernible  in  the  sermons  of  his  Frankfort  pe- 
riod, although  of  decided  reform  teaching  there  is 
as  yet  no  trace.  True,  Samson  Raphael  Hirsch,  the 
prophet  of  modern  neo-orthodoxy  may  also  be  pointed 
to  as  pursuing  a  similar  method  of  symbolization  and 
therefore  it  may  be  claimed  that  there  is  no  justifica- 
tion in  considering  this  method  as  in  any  way  leading 
to  reform.  With  all  due  regard  for  Hirsch 's  excep- 
tional gifts  and  achievements  there  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  the  orthodox  position  is  surrendered 
when  the  Maimonidean  method  of  reading  into 
ceremony  and  religious  institutions  an  emblematic 
significance  which  is  far  other  than  the  real  intent  is 
pursued.  The  rabbi  of  the  Ezekial  Landau  and 
Salomon  Tiktin  type,  who  demanded  the  observance 
of  rabbinical  enactments  simply  as  such  without 
attempting  to  invest  them  with  symbolical  signifi- 
cance, is  truly  consistent.  The  symbolization  of  the 
ceremonies  is  inconsistent  with  this  true  orthodox 
ideal ;  when  Holdheim  carried  his  ideas  further  an  re- 
interpreted the  ceremonial  laws  according  to  the 
universalistic  conception  of  Judaism,  he  was  logical  in 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  67 

his  development.  Hirsch,  who  stopped  short  at 
symbolization,  was  illogical  and  was  as  little  oithodox 
in  the  real  sense  as  were  the  reformers  upon  whom  he 
vented  the  vials  of  his  wrath  and  scorn.  Romantic 
obscurantism  lacks  both  the  absolutism  of  true 
orthodoxy  and  the  free  spirit  of  true  liberalism. 
It  is  extremely  interesting  that  the  two  men  who  are 
usually  regarded  as  antipodes  in  Judaism  in  the 
Germany  of  the  nineteenth  century  should  have  both 
at  the  beginning  of  their  careers  followed  a  similar 
method  in  the  interpretation  of  ceremonies  and 
institutions. 

During  his  Frankfort  period,  Holdheim,  as  he 
never  hesitated  to  acknowledge,  was  greatly  influenced 
in  the  development  of  his  religious  ideas  by  the  writings 
of  Abraham  Geiger.  In  1835  Geiger  began  the  publi- 
cation of  his  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaftliche  Theo- 
logie*  which  became  the  medium  through  which  both 
the  editor  and  like-minded  religious  leaders  in  Ger- 
many gave  voice  to  the  new  thoughts  which  they  were 
developing  touching  the  real  significance  of  Judaism, 
its  forms,  ceremonies  and  institutions.  Geiger  in  one 
form  and  another  was  illustrating  and  proving  the 
thesis  that  Judaism  spelt  development.  In  a  num- 
ber of  articles  which  appeared  in  the  Zeitschrift  during 
the  years  which  corresponded  with  Holdheim's  in- 
cumbency of  the  Frankfort  position,  Geiger  in 
broad  lines  set  forth  the  needs,  the  possibilities  and  the 
hopes  of  the  new  Judaism.  In  the  opening  article 
of  the  first  volume  of  the  Zeitschrift  entitled  Das 

2  Six  volumes  of  this  learned  magazine  appeared  at  intervals 
from  1835-1847. 


68  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Judenthum  Unserer  Zeit  und  die  Bestrebungen  in  ihm? 
he  mapped  out  the  program  of  scientific  investigation 
into  the  historical  origin  of  forms  and  institutions  and 
the  necessity  of  their  relinquishment  or  change  if  no 
longer  productive  of  religious  edification.  In  an 
article  of  similar  import,  Neues  Stadium  des  Kampfes 
in  dem  Judenthume  unserer  Zeil*  after  graphically 
presenting  the  opposing  tendencies  which  were  warring 
in  the  Jewish  camp,  he  made  a  strong  plea  for  the 
right  of  free  investigation  into  the  origin  and  reason- 
ableness of  Jewish  institutions  and  the  consequent 
need  of  reform.  Mention  must  also  be  made 
in  this  connection  of  the  striking  article  Der  Form- 
glauben  in  seinem  Unwerthe  und  in  seinen  Folgen;* 
in  this  essay  Geiger  stated  without  any  qualification 
that  "the  validity  (of  religious  ceremonies)  can  con- 
sist only  in  the  fact  that  they  are  of  living  significance; 
this  can  be  the  case  only  if  they  answer  local  condi- 
tions and  are  suited  to  the  contemporary  state  of 
culture.  As  soon  as  they  no  longer  possess  the 
power  to  fulfil  such  purpose  and  are  retained  neverthe- 
less, nay,  make  even  greater  demands  upon  being 
observed  inasmuch  as  they  are  no  longer  means  to  an 
end,  but  pretend  to  be  an  end  in  themselves,  they  have 
lost  all  value;  bald  formalism  has  in  such  instances 
usurped  the  place  of  free  moral  action  and  supersti- 
tion has  erected  its  throne."  The  philosophy  of 
ceremony  and  ceremonialism  can  be  expressed  in 
brief  phrase  no  more  clearly.  The  religious  situation 

3  Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift  fuer  Juedische  Thpologie  I,  1-12. 

4  Ibid  II,  209-225. 

5  Ibid  IV,  1-12. 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  69 


in  Judaism  which  was  so  vitally  dependent  upon  the 
stand  assumed  towards  the  validity  of  ceremonies 
could  not  but  be  clarified  by  pronouncements  as 
fearless  and  as  far  reaching  as  these. 

These  words  penetrated  into  every  portion  of 
Germany  and  nowhere  did  they  find  more  sympathetic 
reception  than  with  the  rabbi  of  Frankfort  on  the  Oder. 
Geiger  was  Holdheim's  guide  in  these  early  years  in 
so  far  as  he  led  the  way,  but  Holdheim  was  too  in- 
dependent a  spirit  and  too  self-reliant  a  thinker  to 
follow  long  where  others  led  and  in  his  literary 
productions  and  the  practical  performance  of  his 
official  functions  he  soon  gave  evidence  that  a  great 
power  had  arisen  in  the  ranks  of  reform  Judaism;  from 
the  year  1840  which  witnessed  the  publication  of 
Holdheim's  pamphlet  Der  religioese  Fortschritt  im 
deutschen  Judenthume  called  forth  by  the  cause 
celebre  in  the  German  Jewish  world,  the  strife  engen- 
dered in  the  Breslau  congregation  by  the  election  of 
Geiger  as  associate  to  Tiktin,6  these  two  men,  Samuel 
Holdheim  and  Abraham  Geiger  shone  as  the  twin 
stars  in  the  firmament  of  Jewish  religious  liberalism. 
Equally  radical  in  theory,  Holdheim  was  much  more 
so  in  practice  than  his  famous  contemporary.  Geiger 
held  that  as  a  student,  the  rabbi  could  give  expression 
to  any  conclusions  to  which  his  researches  might  lead 
him,  be  they  ever  so  radical;  in  practice,  however,  he 
must  consider  conditions  and  social  forces  and  move 
slowly;  hence  in  Geiger's  rabbinical  career  he  was 
much  more  conservative  in  practice  than  in  theory; 
hence,  too,  he  laid  himself  open  frequently  to  the 
6  Philipson,  The  Reform  Movement  in  Judaism,  72-101. 


70  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

charge  of  inconsistency.  Holdheim,  on  the  other 
hand,  carried  his  theories  into  practice  and  became  as 
radical  in  the  administration  of  his  office  as  he  was  in 
the  expression  of  his  views.  The  difference  in 
temperament  between  the  two  men  also  appeared 
from  their  attitude  towards  independent  religious 
organizations  in  Judaism.  When  the  Berlin  reform 
congregation  was  organized  as  an  independent  con- 
gregation in  1845,  cutting  loose  from  the  central 
Jewish  community,  Geiger  refused  the  offer  to  become 
its  religious  leader  because  he  believed  in  the  solidarity 
of  the  community  and  had  no  desire  to  be  the  rabbi 
of  a  segment;  after  Holdheim's  death  when  the  same 
position  was  again  tendered  him,  he  refused  on  the 
same  ground;  Holdheim  on  the  other  hand,  had  no 
such  scruples;  he  was  by  the  whole  trend  of  this 
thoughts  and  sympathies  an  out  and  out  individualist 
and  independent;  he  sympathized  fully  with  the 
Berlin  reformers  who  dissociated  themselves  from  the 
central  Jewish  community  and  organized  a  separate 
congregation  in  order  to  have  a  free  hand  in  carrying 
out  their  reforms,  and  he  consented  to  become  the 
rabbi  cf  this  independent,  individual,  radical  con- 
gregation which  stood  altogether  by  itself,  giving  up 
the  chief  rabbinate  of  the  province  of  Mecklenburg 
Schwerin  with  its  official  prestige  and  entering  upon 
an  unknown  and  untried  course.  In  Geiger  the 
sense  of  historical  development  was  much  stronger 
than  in  Holdheim;  his  practical  program  was  to  re- 
form from  within;  Holdheim  on  the  other  hand  did 
not  hesitate  at  the  boldest  changes  and  a  community 
like  the  Berlin  Reform  Congregation  which  was  pre- 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  71 


pared  for  the  most  violent  departures  from  Jewish 
traditional  practice  was  after  his  own  heart.  In 
brief,  Holdheim  was  the  arch-radical,  Geiger  the  con- 
servative reformer;  Holdheim  was  impatient  to  have 
his  theories  realized  in  immediate  practice,  Geiger 
was  content  to  move  more  slowly;  Holdheim  was  the 
iconoclast  without  mercy,  Geiger  had  a  reverence  for 
institutional  life  as  it  had  developed  historically. 
They  represented  two  types  of  mind  and  each  in  his 
own  way  impressed  the  seal  of  his  personality  upon 
the  religious  thought  of  the  generation  in  which  they 
lived  and  toiled  and  had  their  being. 

Holdheim  moved  rapidly  in  his  religious  progress; 
he  was  intense  by  nature,  and  threw  himself  heart  and 
soul  into  any  position  he  espoused;7  he  advanced  by 
leaps  and  bounds;  in  1836  when  he  assumed  the  rabbin- 
ical position  in  Frankfort  on  the  Oder;  he  was  as  con- 
servative in  sentiment  as  any  of  the  younger  rabbis 
of  the  time ;  ten  years  later  when  he  entered  upon  his 
office  as  rabbi  of  the  Berlin  reform  congregation  he 
was  a  radical  of  the  radicals.  That  fifth  decade  cf  the 
nineteenth  century  was  a  very  stirring  time  in  Juda- 
ism; the  leaven  of  new  ideas  was  working;  every  day 
was  making  history;  the  Jewish  communities,  notably 
in  the  large  cities  like  Berlin,  Breslau, Hamburg,  Frank- 
fort on  the  Main  were  agitated  from  center  to  cir- 
cumference by  the  excitements  incident  upon  the 
growth  and  spread  of  liberal  ideas.  The  Geiger 
Tiktin  controversy,  the  Hamburg  Temple  Prayer 
Book  incident,  the  Frankfort  circumcision  agitation, 

7  Ritter,    Die   juedische    Reformation,    Part    III,    Samuel 
Holdheim,  118. 


72  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


the  Brunswick,  Frankfort  and  Breslau  rabbinical 
conferences,  the  Berlin  Reform  Congregation  episode 
kept  German  Jewry  in  a  state  of  constant  ferment 
and  upheaval.  In  all  this  time  Holdheim  played  a 
leading  part.  His  pen  was  unceasingly  active;  year 
in,  year  out,  he  enriched  the  Jewish  theological  and 
controversial  literature  with  the  ripe  deliverances  of 
his  well-stored  mind.  Not  even  by  name  can  refer- 
ence be  made  to  all  the  essays,  pamphlets  and  books 
that  he  produced.  His  leading  ideas  on  the  subjects 
which  were  particularly  foremost,  I  shall  attempt  to 
reproduce  in  order  to  give  as  complete  a  picture  as 
possible  of  the  mental  and  religious  outlook  of  this 
man  who  aroused  the  bitterest  enmities  and  was  un- 
justly denounced  by  the  adherents  of  traditional 
Judaism  as  a  reincarnated  Paul  of  Tarsus.8  What- 
ever he  may  or  may  not  have  been,  he  was  certainly  a 
Jew  with  all  his  heart  and  soul;  he  had  no  intention 
or  purpose  to  undermine  Judaism  and  replace  it  by 
another  religion  as  did  Paul;  his  interpretation  of 
Judaism  and  its  ceremonies  may  have  been  individual 
and  too  radical,  but  he  rooted  in  Judaism;  he  never 
wished  to  be  anything  alse  but  a  follower  and  teacher 
of  Judaism  and  in  the  history  of  modern  Judaism  he 
must  always  be  given,  as  he  will  always  have,  a  fore- 
most place. 

The    book   which    directed    the    attention    of    the 

Jewish  religious  world  particularly  to  Holdheim  and 

on  which  his  fame  largely  rests  to  this  day  was  his 

Ueber  die  Autonomie  der  Rabbinen  und  das  Prinzip 

der  juedischen  Ehe.  Ein  Beitrag  zur    Verstaendigung 

8  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden  XI,  565. 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  73 

ueber  einige  das  Judenthum  betreffende  Zeitfragen. 
(Schwerin,  1843).  The  direct  occasion  for  the  writing 
of  this  treatise  lay  in  the  fact  that  in  the  province  of 
Mecklenburg  Schwerin  of  which  Holdheim  was  the 
chief  rabbi,  all  matters  involving  marriage-and-in- 
heritance-legislation  among  the  Jews  were  decided  by 
the  rabbinical  court  according  to  the  laws  laid  down 
in  the  Talmud  and  were  not  adjudicated  by  the  regular 
courts  of  the  land.  This  separate  Jewish  legislation 
which  had  been  the  order  of  things  in  all  lands  before 
the  days  of  emancipation  set  off  the  Jewrs  as  a  distinct 
community  within  the  community.  In  a  number  of 
German  states,  the  law-making  bodies  had  declared 
that  the  Jews  were  subject  to  the  same  legislation  as 
all  the  other  inhabitants  in  all  matters  requiring 
legal  adjudication.  Holdheim  desired  to  have  this 
same  step  taken  in  Mecklenburg.  At  this  time  also 
the  Prussian  government  was  contemplating  an  Act 
of  Incorporation  for  the  Jews;  by  this  the  Jews  were 
to  be  formed  into  separate  communities  of  their  own 
and  be  divided  off  from  the  remainder  of  the  in- 
habitants. In  this  book  Holdheim  declared  that  the 
Jews  did  not  desire  separate  nationality.  The  theses 
of  his  book  were,  first,  that  the  law  of  the  state  in 
which  the  Jews  lived  must  supersede  the  Mosaic- 
talmudical  legislation  and  that  the  rabbi  must  there- 
fore cease  to  exercise  judicial  functions;  in  the  modern 
state  the  rabbi  is  not  a  legislator  nor  a  judge;  he  must 
confine  himself  entirely  to  the  religious  province 
and  his  work  will  be  all  the  more  efficacious  here 
inasmuch  as  he  will  be  freed  from  performing  all  the 
extraneous  judicial  functions  which  belong  primarily 


74  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


and  altogether  to  the  state ;  secondly,  the  true  interests 
of  the  Jews  and  Judaism  demand  the  absolute  separa- 
tion of  the  religious  and  national  or  political  elements ; 
and  thirdly,  marriage  according  to  Judaism  is  a 
purely  civil  act. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  this  classic  of  reform 
Judaism  is  of  course  its  clear  and  unmistakable  pro- 
nouncement that  the  Jews  are  a  religious  community 
without  political  aims  of  their  own,  and  that  in  all  things 
except  their  religion  they  are  of  the  state  and  people 
of  whom  they  form  a  part.  The  separatistic  Jewish 
legislation  beneath  whose  dispensation  the  Jews  had 
lived  during  the  centuries  of  exclusion  was  a  barrier 
for  whose  continued  existence  there  was  no  justifica- 
tion. Three  years  previously,  in  1840,  Holdheim, 
after  having  attended  a  service  in  the  then  famous 
Hamburg  Temple,  had  written  that  the  great  achieve- 
ment of  this  reform  congregation  had  been  that  it 
had  repudiated  all  distinctive  Jewish  national  hopes 
and  had  separated  altogether  the  religious  and  national 
elements  in  Judaism.  With  this  he  was  in  full  sym- 
pathy and  his  Aulonomie  is  an  elaboration  of  the 
correctness  of  this  standpoint.  "Only  if  the  Jew 
surrenders  all  particularistic  national  conceptions, 
only  if  he  believes  that  he  can  be  true  to  the  idea  of 
Judaism  as  a  religion  in  each  and  any  fatherland 
wherever  he  may  live,  can  he  be  truly  attached  to  his 
fatherland.  But  if  he  entertains  as  a  religious  tenet 
and  as  a  matter  of  conscientious  conviction  the  belief 
that  the  Jewish  state  will  again  arise,  then  he  can  not 
possibly  be  in  earnest  in  the  matter  of  the  separation 
of  the  religious  and  political  elements  and  its  implied 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  75 

corollary  of  true  loyalty  to  the  fatherland."9  In 
these  words  he  expressed  the  gist  of  reform  Judaism's 
teaching  on  this  all  important  point  of  the  relation  to 
the  state.  From  its  very  inception  the  new  movement 
in  Judaism  has  made  a  cardinal  doctrine  of  this  elimina- 
tion of  the  nationalistic  aspect;  the  teaching  has  been 
constantly  accentuated  that  Judaism's  mission  is 
religious  and  not  political  and  that  the  Jews  have  no 
.national  or  political  aims  of  their  own  but  are  part 
and  parcel  of  the  nations  to  which  they  belong  by 
birth  or  adoption.  This  fundamental  idea  of  reform 
so  clearly  set  forth  by  Holdheim  requires  reiteration 
at  this  time  for  men's  ideas  in  this  matter  are  much 
confused  today.  We  have  been  witnessing  during  the 
past  decade  the  recrudescence  of  Jewish  nationalism 
in  the  so-called  Zionistic  movement.  Strange  to  say 
there  are  reformers  who  claim,  in  flat  contradiction  to 
the  Holdheim  thesis,  that  there  is  no  call  to  separate 
the  political  element  from  Judaism  and  they  attempt 
to  reconcile  the  position  of  reform  Judaism  with  the 
nationalistic  or  Zionistic  position.  Conditions  among 
us  today  necessitate  a  brief  consideration  of  this  mat- 
ter in  the  present  connection  and  I  will  be  pardoned,  if 
after  Talmudic  precedent,  I  dwell  upon  this  point  by 
the  way. 

Reform  Judaism  and  nationalism,  or  let  me  use  the 
synonym  for  Jewish  nationalism  now  in  vogue, 
Zionism,  are  incompatible  and  irreconcilable.  Reform 
Judaism  is  spiritual,  Zionism  is  political;  Reform  Juda- 
ism is  universal,  Zionism  is  particularistic.  Reform 
Judaism  looks  to  the  future,  Zionism  to  the  past;  the 
9  Autonomie  der  Rabbinen,  53-54. 


76  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

outlook  of  Reform  Judaism  is  the  world,  the  outlook 
of  Zionism  is  a  corner  of  Western  Asia.  Let  there  be 
no  juggling  with  terms,  as  has  grown  fashionable  of 
late;  we  hear  of  moral  Zionism  and  cultural  Zionism. 
Zionism  is  a  distinctly  political  movement,  as  Israel 
Zangwill  declared  several  years  ago:  "It  (is)  more 
than  ever  necessary  to  define  Zionism  clearly  as  a 
modern  political  movement,  having  for  aim  the  re- 
establishment  of  Israel  as  a  political  entity,  and  in- 
cidentally the  salvation  of  the  masses  of  Russia  and 
Roumania."  No  legerdemain  of  words  here;  no  hazy 
talk  of  moral  or  cultural  Zionism.  "Having  for  aim 
the  re-establishment  of  Israel  as  a  political  entity;" 
Mr.  Zangwill  deserves  our  thanks  for  this  clear  and 
unmistakable  pronouncement.  No  words  could  state 
more  decidedly  the  incompatibility  of  the  aims  of 
Zionism  and  Reform  Judaism.  For  whatever  else 
Reform  Judaism  may  or  mav  not  be,  it  is  not  a  political 
movement;  and  whatever  else  Zionism  may  or  may 
not  be,  jt  is  a  political  movement.  Here  truly  is  a 
parting  of  the  ways.  The  same  Mr.  Zangwill  once 
said  that  there  were  but  two  possible  solutions  of  the 
Jewish  question,  "either  a  common  country  or  a  com- 
mon idea;"  Zionism  represents  the  "common  country" 
solution,  Reform  Judaism  the  "common  idea." 
From  the  very  beginning  Reform  Judaism  was  pro- 
claimed a  purely  spiritual  interpretation  of  Judaism; 
one  of  the* first  practical  results  of  the  agitation  for 
reform  was  the  elimination  from  the  traditional 
liturgy  of  all  prayers  for  the  return  to  Palestine,  the 
reinstitution  of  the  Jewish  State,  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  throne  of  David;  this  substitution  of  the 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  77 

purely  spiritual  for  the  political  mission  has  continued 
one  of  the  main  tenets  of  the  reform  movement,  as  it 
was  so  well  summarized  in  the  Declaration  of  Prin- 
ciples of  the  Pittsburg  Conference:  "We  recognize  in 
the  modern  era  of  universal  culture  of  heart  and  in- 
tellect, the  approaching  of  the  realization  of  Israel's 
great  Messianic  hopes  for  the  establishment  of  truth, 
justice  and  peace  among  all  men.  We  consider  our- 
selves no  longer  a  nation,  but  a  religious  community, 
and  therefore  expect  neither  a  return  to  Palestine  nor 
a  sacrificial  worship  under  the  sons  of  Aaron,  nor  the 
restoration  of  any  of  the  laws  concerning  a  Jewish 
State."  Let  us  have  done  then  with  all  attempts  at 
defending  the  thesis  of  the  possibility  of  reconciling 
the  attitude  of  Reform  Judaism  and  Zionism;  such 
attempts  are  the  sheerest  casuistry.  Zionism  means 
a  surrender  ot  the  ideals  for  which  Reform  Judaism 
stands. 

In  his  Autonomie  and  subsequent  publications, 
Holdheim  expressed  his  thoughts  on  the  many 
matters  involved  in  this  fundamental  conception  of 
Judaism  as  a  religious  entity  so  fully  that  no  one 
could  be  at  a  loss  to  know  just  where  he  stood.  His 
views  on  the  more  important  subjects  may  well 
occupy  us  as  the  significance  of  his  career  lies  after  all 
rather  in  the  province  of  thought  than  action.  The 
Talmud  and  its  authority  formed  naturally  the  point 
of  departure  in  all  the  points  at  issue  between  the 
reformers  and  the  traditionalists.  The  tradition  of 
the  oral  law  as  contained  in  the  Talmud  had  un- 
questioned authority  in  Jewish  life  and  practice. 
Holdheim  himself  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  had 


78  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

accepted  not  only  the  dicta  of  the  Talmud  but  also 
those  of  the  later  rabbis  as  decisive;  soon  he  made  a 
distinction  between  Talmudical  deliverances  and 
those  of  the  later  authorities,  denying  the  binding 
validity  of  the  latter;  it  was  not  long  ere  he  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Talmud  too  has  not  divine 
sanction  and  that  it  was  only  a  stage  in  the  development 
of  Judaism;  the  principle  of  tradition  is  a  living 
principle  and  goes  beyond  the  Talmud;  traditions 
are  contained  in  the  Talmud,  but  the  Talmud  contains 
not  all  tradition;  in  the  defense  of  his  contention 
against  the  authority  of  the  Talmud,  he  permitted 
himself  to  be  carried  to  great  lengths  and  was  at 
.times  savagely  bitter  in  his  condemnation  of  Tal- 
mudical utterances,  as  were  in  fact  many  of  the  early 
reformers  in  the  heat  of  conflict.  As  the  years  passed, 
Holdheim  grew  more  and  more  clear  in  his  expression 
as  to  the  meaning  of  tradition ;  tradition  is  the  testi- 
mony of  history;  traditions  may  be  recorded  but  not 
tradition.  This  is  the  living  principle  of  develop- 
ment. Not  by  set  hermeneutic  rules,  as  is  the 
Talmudic  procedure,  is  tradition  to  be  deduced  from 
the  Bible,  but  by  the  unfolding  purpose  of  God  as 
revealed  in  the  successive  ages  of  the  world,  making 
more  evident  all  the  time  the  transiency  of  all  that 
in  the  Bible  is  of  a  theocratic,  particularistic,  symbolic 
and  political  character  and  the  permanence  and 
eternity  of  purely  religious  and  universal  truths. 

Similarly,  in  his  conception  of  the  function  of  the 
priesthood  and  of  the  election  of  Israel,  he  was  guided 
by  this  same  general  distinction  between  the  par- 
ticularistic and  the  universal.  The  priesthood  of  a 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  79 

special  family,  the  Aaronides,  was  bound  up  with  the 
theocratic  conception  of  a  Palestinian  Judaism;  this 
must  give  way  under  the  universalistic  interpretation 
to  the  idea  of  the  priesthood  of  the  community. 
Israel  is  the  priest-people.  But  he  went  even  fur- 
ther than  this  in  his  teaching  concerning  the  election 
of  Israel.  In  a  study  entitled  Volksgenossenschaft 
und  Religions  genossenschaftw  written  in  1848,  he  gave 
voice  to  what  must  be  considered  the  extreme  lengths 
to  which  his  thesis  of  universalism  versus  particularism 
carried  him;  in  this  essay  he  claimed  that  in  the  view 
of  traditional  Judaism,  religion  was  law,  that  the 
Jew  was  bound  to  the  law  by  his  birth  and  that  circum- 
cision was  the  sign  of  the  covenant,  while  reform 
teaches  that  Judaism  is  a  matter  of  conviction  and 
not  of  birth,  of  free  moral  conviction  of  the  God- 
likeness  of  man  and  the  covenant  of  love  between 
God  and  man,  whose  conditions  and  consequences 
are  the  sanctification  of  the  moral  law.  The  moral 
law  is  the  sanctifying  element.  Traditional  Judaism 
naturally  refuses  to  recognize  as  Jewish  a  religious 
community  founded  on  this  basis;  in  truth  such  a 
community  does  not  demand  that  the  orthodox  con- 
sider it  Jewish  in  their  sense  of  the  term,  but  it  de- 
mands that  the  orthodox  concede  it  the  right  to 
consider  itself  Jewish  according  to  its  conception, 
just  as  it  concedes  the  same  right  to  the  orthodox 
although  it  believes  that  the  orthodox  persist  in  a 
conception  of  Judaism  which  it  has  outgrown.  He 
contends Jurther  that  the  doctrine  of  the  chosen  people 
or  the  election  of  Israel  is  a  political  doctrine  which 
wlsraelit  des  Neunzehnten  Jahrhunderts,  1848,  161-4,  169-72. 


80  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


lost  its  significance  with  the  cessation  of  Israel's 
autonomous  political  existence;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
covenant  between  God  and  man  is  a  religious  concep- 
tion capable  of  unending  development;  "in  accordance 
with  this  principle  we  have  only  to  set  aside  the 
barrier  which  limits  the  relation  between  God  and 
man  to  the  israelitish  tribe  and  extend  this  relation 
to  all  mankind  in  order  to  see  the  theocracy  expand 
into  a  universal  religion  of  humanity,  the  tribe  change 
into  a  religious  community  and  the  reform  of  Judaism 
completed  in  principle.  Nothing  further  is  needed 
if  the  power  of  development  of  the  God-idea,  the 
moral  idea  of  Judaism,  is  granted.  But  the  God-idea 
is  obscured  if  it  be  assumed  that  God  turned  in  love 
to  one  tribe  exclusively  and  cast  off  all  other  peoples 
in  a  step-fatherly  manner.  The  moral  idea  loses  its 
true  worth  if  it  is  confined  narrow-mindedly  to  the 
members  of  one  tribe."  In  other  words  the  relation 
of  man  to  God  is  the  absolute  religious  relation,  hence 
eternal;  that  of  a  chosen  people  to  God,  the  relative 
religious  conception,  hence  temporary,  however,  "the 
divine  covenant  with  Israel  still  obtains  inasmuch 
as  this  people  is  still  called  to  preserve  for  mankind 
the  monotheistic  belief  in  its  purity  together  with 
the  holy  moral  law,  until  such  time  as  Israel  shall 
become  a  blessing  to  all  mankind  when  it  will  lose  its 
particularity  in  the  messianic  era." 

If,  as  Holdheim  contends,  here  and  everywhere  all 
stress  must  be  laid  upon  the  religious  and  universal 
element,  the  question  of  the  validity  of  religious 
principles  or  dogmas  becomes  of  supreme  importance. 
In  the  conception  of  rabbinical  Judaism  wherein 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  81 


most  weight  is  laid  on  practice,  the  chief  word  is 
"thou  shalt  do,"  or  "thou  shalt  not  do"  (n^y  and 
nsryn  tib)  rather  than  "thou  shalt  believe."  In  a 
famous  passage  Moses  Mendelssohn  had  declared 
that  Judaism  is  only  ceremonial  legislation  and  has  no 
dogmas;  he  had  also  stated  that  this  ceremonial 
legislation  having  been  revealed  by  God  has  validity 
until  there  shall  be  a  second  revelation  as  clear  as  the 
first  abrogating  it.  In  reference  to  the  latter  point, 
Holdheim  had  declared  in  a  remarkable  article 
"  Unsere  Gegenwart"11  that  God  reveals  himself  in 
history  and  when  in  this  progressive  revelation  of 
God  it  appears  that  the  ceremonial  legislation  has 
lost  religious  validity  and  its  abrogation  becomes 
necessary  for  the  furtherance  of  the  true  religious 
spirit,  God  has  so  commanded  it.  As  for  the  other 
contention  that  Judaism  has  no  dogmas,  he  took 
direct  issue  with  Mendelssohn.12  True,  Judaism  has 
no  creed  which  man  must  blindly  accept  even  though 
against  reason,  but  it  has  religious  doctrines  or 
dogmas  which  reason  must  freely  acquiesce  in. 
\\hen  in  1850  the  Berlin  Reform  Congregation  of 
which  Holdheim  was  rabbi,  requested  to  be  incorpor- 
ated by  the  government,  the  petition  was  refused 
on  the  ground  that  the  congregation  required  no  con- 
fession of  faith,  and  the  state  could  not  recognize 
officially  any  religious  body  that  had  no  positive  con- 
fession of  faith.  When  this  answer  was  returned  a 


uFreund'sZwr  Judenfrage  in  Deutschland,  II,  149-171,  231- 
258,  315-340. 

l2Moses  Mendelssohn  und  die  Denk-und  Glaubensfreihett  im 
Judenthume  (Berlin  1859). 


82  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS     

most  spirited  and  inteiesting  debate  took  place  at  the 
meeting  of  the  directorate  of  the  congregation  on  the 
point  as  to  whether  Judaism  has  a  fixed  creed  or  not.13 
The   "lay"  members  held  that  the  government  of- 
ficials should  be  informed  that  the  request  for  a  con- 
fession  of   faith    could    not   be   complied    with  since 
Judaism  lacks  this.     One  of  them  (Dr.  Dressier)  stated 
that  "the  positing  of  principles  is  altogether  unjewish. 
Formerly  he  too  had  considered  this  necessary,  but 
he  had  seen  the  error  of  this  view  and  had  repudiated 
it."     Another  (Dr.  Stern)  declared  that  "the  fixed 
definition  of  principles  contradicts  entirely  the  idea 
of  development  which  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  our 
reform."     Stern  was  empowered  to  frame  an  answer 
to  the  government  along  these  lines.     Holdheim  took 
issue  with  the  "lay"  members  on  this  point.     He  held 
that  the  belief  in  definite  principles  did  not  exclude 
the  idea  of  development  and  that  "our  reform  touches 
only  the  dead  forms  of  Judaism  but  not  its  inner  es- 
sence and  the  content  of  the  faith."     Holdheim  was 
as  much  opposed  as  any  of  the  laymen  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  fixed  creed  as  a  condition  of  salvation.14 
This  is  the  Christian,  not  the  Jewish  point  of  view, 
and  therefore  the  Christian  officials  took  the  attitude 
they   did.     The   point   in   which   Holdheim   differed 
with  the  laymen  was  that  principles  were  absolutely 
necessary  of  statement  and  that  Judaism  having  such 
principles,  they  could,  should  and  must  be  stated; 

13Holdheim,  Geschichte  der  Juedischen  Reformgemeinde  in 
Berlin,  229-30,  (Berlin,  1857), 

14See  paragraph  2  of  his  Religionsprincipien  des  reformiertcn 
Jtidenthums,  Berlin,  1847. 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  83 

there  is  a  wide  difference  between  a  creed  as  a  fixed 
and  necessary  condition  of  salvation  and  a  declaration 
of  principles. 

The  principles  of  Judaism  as  he  conceived  them 
Holdheim  elaborated  in  his  treatise  entitled  Die 
Religionsprinzipien  des  reformierten  Judenthums  (Ber- 
lin, 1847),  which  contains  his  system  of  theology. 
The  treatise  consists  of  seven  sections  whereof  the 
first  serves  as  an  introduction  setting  forth  the  his- 
torical development  of  the  necessity  of  a  reform  of 
Judaism  within  German  Jewry.  The  belief  in  the  one 
eternal  and  holy  God  with  all  the  appertaining  at- 
tributes has  always  been  the  fundamental  principle 
of  Judaism  and  the  Bible  its  norm  of  faith.  The 
religious  life  among  the  Jews  in  post-Biblical  times 
was  the  product  of  a  definite  system  of  Biblical  in- 
terpretation, viz:  the  Talmudical,  which,  as  is  well 
known,  is  casuistical.  If  the  belief  in  the  tradition 
and  in  the  correctness  of  this  method  of  interpretation 
is  no  longer  held,  the  hope  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Mosaic  sacrificial  system  and  its  rites,  as  well  as  of 
the  agrarian,  levitical  and  the  majority  of  the  laws  of 
purity  is  repudiated.  Then  the  break  with  the  whole 
theory  of  Talmudic  Judaism  has  become  unavoidable 
and  the  need  for  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Bible  and 
consequent  religious  practice  has  arisen.  What 
demands  then  does  Judaism,  bearing  in  mind  its 
whole  development  from  the  beginning,  make  upon 
its  followers  of  the  present  time  of  whom  this  is  true? 
After  showing  how  the  Talmudic  interpretation  of 
the  Bible  was  really  a  development  beyond  the  Biblical 
content,  thus  establishing  the  principle  of  positive 


84  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

historical  development,  he  proceeds  with  the  declara- 
tion that  the  Reform  Congregation  accepts  this  prin- 
ciple with  the  reservation,  however,  that  it  acknowl- 
edges as  positive  fundamental  principles  only  the 
spiritually  potent  ideas  of  truth  and  morality  which 
underlie  Biblical  Judaism  and  which  have  been  de- 
veloped by  the  history  of  mankind  at  large  and  the 
Jews  in  particular.  In  the  next  section  which  is  taken 
up  with  the  discussion  of  the  justification  and  the 
need  to  lay  down  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Judaism  at  the  present  time  he  shows  why  this  has 
been  neglected  thus  far.  In  Talmudic  and  rabbinic 
Judaism  greatest  stress  was  laid  upon  observance, 
hence,  no  necessity  was  felt  for  a  formulation  of  belief. 
The  Reform  Congregation  rejects  the  principle  of 
externality  and  accepts  as  alone  justified  that  of 
inner  conviction;  only  the  conviction  of  the  validity 
of  the  truths  of  Judaism,  of  religious  sentiment  and  the 
moral  acts  flowing  from  this  have  absolute  value; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  forms  which  bring  these 
truths  home  to  men,  which  arouse  religious  feeling, 
encourage  moral  conduct  and  result  in  spiritual  com- 
panionship have  only  relative  value.  Hence,  he  only 
is  to  be  considered  a  Jew  who  makes  free  confession 
of  the  truths  of  Judaism  and  testifies  to  his  realization 
of  their  significance  by  corresponding  deeds  of  moral- 
ity. In  the  next  section  he  declares  that  the  source 
of  Judaism  whence  its  religious  principles  are  to  be 
derived,  is  its  history  which  shows  how  Judaism 
gradually  develops  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  people. 
The  remainder  of  the  treatise  is  devoted  to  explaining 
his  views  en  such  points  as  circumcision,  the  Sabbath, 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  85 

the  relation  to  the  state,  the  chosen  people  idea, 
Talmud  and  tradition,  the  holidays  and  public  wor- 
ship. As  some  of  these  subjects  have  been  already 
discussed  and  others  will  be  touched  upon  shortly,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  them  now.  This 
booklet  on  the  religious  principles  of  reform  Judaism 
is  Holdheim's  confession  of  faith  and  presents  in  full 
his  views  on  all  the  controverted  subjects  which 
agitated  the  Jewish  communities  of  Germany  during 
these  birth  years  of  the  reform  movement.  None 
of  the  reform  leaders  with  the  exception  of  Hess  of 
Weimar,  the  editor  of  the  organ  of  radical  reform 
Der  Israelit  des  Neunzehnten  Jahrhunderts,  shared 
Holdheim's  extreme  views,  notably  when  it  came  to 
carrying  them  into  practice.  How  absolutely  Hold- 
heim  and  his  congregation  had  broken  with  accepted 
Jewish  tradition  appeared  notably  in  the  attitude  on 
the  Sabbath,  circumcision  and  marriage  questions. 
From  1849  the  congregation  worshipped  on  Sunday 
.only.  Circumcision  was  declared  non-essential  and 
intermarriages  were  celebrated.  Circumcision  and 
marriage  among  Jews  only  Holdheim  considered  as 
symbols  of  the  theocratic,  national  particularistic 
conception  of  Judaism  and  therefore  not  binding 
when  this  interpretation  had  been  surrendered.  As 
much  interest  naturally  attaches  to  these  practical 
outcomes  of  his  theories  I  shall  let  him  speak  for  him- 
self by  reproducing  his  answers  to  a  questionnaire 
addressed  to  him  in  1848  by  a  reform  society  in 
Arad,  Hungary.  Here  the  ideas  which  he  elaborated 
at  great  length  in  his  many  writings  will  be  found 
succinctly  stated. 


86  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

The  radical  reform  movement  took  quite  a  hold  on  a 
number  of  Hungarian  Jews  in  the  fourth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Chiefly  through  the  influence  of 
Aaron  Chorin,  one  of  the  very  earliest  reform  rabbis,  the 
Jewish  community  of  Arad  had  led  the  way  in  liberal 
religious  thought  among  the  Hungarian  congregations. 
In  1848  some  Jews  in  this  community  desired  to  or- 
ganize a  congregation  of  the  type  of  the  Berlin  re- 
form congregation  and  requested  from  Holdheim 
answers  to  a  series  of  questions;  his  answers  to  these 
questions  are  the  clearest  statement  of  his  position 
in  brief  form  that  I  know.  The  questions  touched 
the  following  points: 

1.  The  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  to  Sunday.  2.  The 
abolition  of  the  dietary  laws.  3.  The  observance  of 
the  second  days  of  the  holidays.  4.  A  short  service  in 
a  living  language  together  with  the  abrogation  of  all 
marks  of  distinctiveness  and  the  covering  of  the  head. 
5.  The  declaration  that  circumcision  is  not  absolutely 
required  of  Israelites;  and  finally,  the  definite  declara- 
tion that  only  the  ten  comrriandments  are  binding  as 
the  revelation  of  God  to  Moses;  therefore  the  Talmud 
and  all  religious  observances  both  such  as  are  con- 
tained in  the  Bible  and  such  as  were  introduced  in 
earlier  days,  fall  away.15 

These  questions  go  to  the  very  heart  of  Jewish 
practice;  they  give  evidence,  too,  of  the  fact  that  these 
radicals  did  not  comprehend  the  basic  principles  of 
the  reform  movement ;  by  repudiating  the  whole  Jewish 
tradition,  they  cut  themselves  loose  from  the  house 
of  Israel;  by  accepting  only  the  Ten  Commandments 
15Israelit  des  Neunzehnten  Jahrhunderts,  1848,  164-5. 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  87 

they  out-karaited  the  Karaites;  all  the  great  re  formers 
insisted  upon  the  validity  of  the  principle  of  tradition, 
however  many  special  traditions  they  may  have  re- 
pudiated; otherwise  they  would  have  cut  the  cord 
that  bound  them  to  the  century-long  religious  ex- 
perience and  development  of  Israel ;  they  taught  that 
reform  was  an  interpretation  and  application  of 
the  principle  of  tradition  in  the  light  of  the  changed 
conditions  of  the  nineteenth  century,  just  as  the 
Schulchan  Arukh  was  such  an  interpretation  and  appli- 
cation in  the  light  of  the  conditions  of  former  centuries. 
For  them  the  whole  history  of  Judaism  was  eloquent 
with  the  searching  after  God  and  they  saw  the  reve- 
lation of  God  not  only  in  the  Ten  Commandments 
but  in  the  whole  long  unfolding  and  growth  of  the 
spirit  of  man  through  historical  time.  However 
much  the  great  leaders  may  have  differed  on  some 
points,  in  this  they  were  all  agreed,  even  Holdheim. 
In  his  answer  to  the  Arad  questionnaire  he  explained 
this  and  other  points  so  clearly  and  concisely  that  it 
appears  necessary  to  set  down  here  his  words: 

A.  "To  the  question  whether  the  observance  of 
the  ten  commandments  alone  is  sufficient  for  the 
israelitish  confession,  I  answer: 

1.  The  definite  God-cognition  and  moral  content 
of  Judaism  as  they  are  expressed  briefly  and  sharply 
in  the  Ten  Commandments,  as  they  are  more  fully 
explained  and  developed  in  the  whole  Bible,  the  post 
Biblical  writings  and  particularly  in  the  whole  history 
of  Judaism,  together  with  the  historical  mission  of 
Judaism  compose  the  exclusive,  unchangeable  founda- 
tion and  the  essential  and  only  binding  principles  of 


88  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Judaism;  this  mission  means  the  preservation  in  all 
its  purity  of  this  God-cognition  and  this  body  of 
moral  doctrine  founding  on  justice  and  universal 
brotherly  love  and  the  promulgation  thereof  among 
men  by  the  moral  force  of  example,  so  that  in  accord- 
ance with  the  prophetical  messianic  idea,  justice  and 
brotherhood  may  become  dominant  in  all  the  earth. 

2.  Now    that    the    Jews    have    become    integral 
elements  of  other  peoples  and  states  in  conjunction 
with  whom  they  are  determined  to  further  the  moral 
aims  of  society,  all  laws  and  institutions  of  Judaism 
which  base  upon  the  election  of  a  particular  Jewish 
people,  yes,  of  a  particular  Jewish  state,  and  hence 
by  their  very  nature   imply  exclusiveness  and  par- 
ticularism,    and     serve     merely    to    strengthen    the 
nationalistic  sentiment  prevalent  among  all  ancient 
peoples,  have  lost  all  religious  significance  and  obli- 
gation and  have  given  way  to  the  national  laws  and 
institutions  of  such  lands  and  peoples  to  which  the 
Jews    belong   by   birth   and    civic    relationship.      As 
an   example  of  such   a  political   law  of  the   Jewish 
Palestinian   state   I  instance  the  prohibition  to  take 
interest  from  the  native  and  the  permission  to  take 
such  interest  from  foreigners  (Deut.  xxiii,  20-21.) 

3.  All  laws  which  deal  with  the  temple,  and  the 
sacrificial,   the   priestly  or   the   Levitical   service,   in 
which  category  also  the  many  dietary  laws  as  well  as 
the  laws  of  clean  and  unclean  belong,  in  a  word,  all 
laws  which  grew  out  of  the  idea  of  a  particular  theo- 
cratical  sanctity  of  the  Jewish  people  and  were  based 
upon   the  conception  of  a  particular  union  between 
God  and  Israel,  the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  closer 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  89 

than  that  with  other  peoples,  have  lost  their 
religious  truth  and  significance  for  us,  now  that  these 
representations  have  become  foreign  to  our  whole 
mode  of  thought  and  we  look  upon  God  as  the  one  and 
only  Father,  and  consider  and  love  all  men  as  His 
children  and  our  brethren. 

4.  All  other  ceremonies  and  customs — whether 
contained  in  the  Bible  or  the  product  of  later  ages — 
which  at  one  time  had  and  fulfilled  the  purpose  of 
nourishing  the  religio-moral  sentiment  but  have  lost 
all  such  power  owing  to  the  complete  change  in  the 
position  and  culture  of  men  and  have  for  this  reason 
sunk  into  mere  external  forms,  can  and  may  not  be 
performed  by  us  any  longer  as  religious  practices. 
We  must  rather  strive  earnestly  for  inner  religiosity 
and  not  outer  formalism  in  accordance  with  the  words 
of  the  prophet  Hosea  (vi.  6)  "I  desire  loving  kindness 
and  not  sacrifice;"  we  must  use  only  such  ceremonies 
as  are  efficacious  as  a  religious  influence  upon  men 
of  the  present  day. 

B.  The  special  questions,  notably: 

1.  That  touching  the  transfer  of  Saturday  to 
Sunday  I  answer  thus:  Since  we  cannot  assume  that 
God  pronounced  one  particular  day  holy  once  for  all 
and  since  we  consider  the  Biblical  account  of  the 
exclusive  sanctification  of  a  .special  day  merely  as  the 
mythical  expression  for  the  sanctification  of  man  on  a 
special  day,  naturally  no  religious  reason  prevents  the 
transfer  of  the  historical  Sabbath  to  any  other  day 
of  the  week,  notably  if  such  transfer  is  urgently 
demanded  by  the  conditions  of  civic  life,  yea,  even 
in  the  interest  of  the  preservation  of  the  Sabbath- 


90  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


institution  and  its  influence  on  the  religious  life  of 
the  congregation,  hence  in  the  interest  of  religion 
itself. 

2.  As  I  have  demonstrated  scientifically  elsewhere, 
the  dietary  laws  belong  to  the  Biblical  laws  of  cleanli- 
ness which  have  long  since  lost  all  significance.     In- 
asmuch as  the  dietary  laws  were  given  to  the  Israel- 
ites alone,  they  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  conception 
of  a  special  theocratical  sanctity  of  the  Jewish  people, 
and  therefore  have  lost  all.  significance.     Whatever, 
however,   may  have  once  been   the  reason   for  the 
dietary  laws,  this  much   is  certain,  that  this  reason 
no  longer  exists  for  us,  and  has  no  religious  efficacy; 
every  irrational  practice,   every  belief  in  talisman ic 
power  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  religion.     Therefore 
the  abrogation  of  the  dietary  laws  is  highly  desirable 
since  in  addition  to  being  a  disturbing  feature  in  the 
civic  and  social  life  of  the  Jews,  these  laws  are  par- 
ticularly prone  to  continue  the  differences  between 
them  and  other  people. 

3.  The  abolition  of  the  second  days  of  the  holidays 
as  well  as  the  abrogation  of  all  fast  days  except  or 
lisa  has  been  recommended  by  the  German  rabbinical 
conferences.     To  my  mind  not  only  is  there  no  objec- 
tion to  such  abolition  but  it  is  highly  desirable  in  the 
interest  of  our  religion. 

4.  The  abbreviation  of  the  service,  the  excision  of 
all  prayers  unsuited  to  cur  age  as  e.  g.  the  sacrificial 
and  messianic  prayers  of  a  Jewish  national  character 
as  well  as  the  use  of  the  vernacular  in  the  public 
service  have  also  been  recommended  by  the  second 
rabbirical  conference.     The  removal  of  all  disturbing 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  91 

ceremonials  has  taken  place  in  very  many  Jewish 
congregations  in  Germany,  and  not  even  from  the 
orthodox  standpoint  can  any  objection  be  raised  to 
praying  with  uncovered  head. 

5.  Circumcision  is  the  sign  of  the  covenant  con- 
cluded between  God  and  Abraham,  and  eo  ipso  his 
descendants  (from  which  however,  the  older  lines  of 
Ishmael  and  Esau  are  excluded)  and  its  seal  on  the 
body  of  every  Israelite.  As  long  as  such  a  covenant 
had  significance  for  the  religious  consciousness  of  the 
Jews,  as  long  as  the  idea  of  a  close  special  covenant  of 
love  excluding  the  nations  (upon  which  the  whole 
theocratic  relationship  was  based)  was  deeply  rooted 
in  the  people's  thought,  circumcision  was  the  character- 
istic symbol  of  this  covenant  and  was  therefore  clung 
to  with  particular  zeal  in  Israel.  But  after  this  idea 
of  the  particular  covenant  which  underlies  circum- 
cision has  ceased  to  be  a  religious  truth  and  an  object 
of  faith  protest  must  be  lodged  against  circumcision, 
the  expression  of  an  outlived  idea.  It  testifies  to 
something  which  is  not  true,  yes,  to  something  which 
is  in  fact  denied  by  all  Israelites  who  have  become 
self-conscious.  The  Jew  today  believes  by  no  manner 
of  means  that  he  through  the  accident  of  descent 
from  Abraham  stands  in  a  close  special  relationship 
to  God  and  that  he  is  obligated  to  give  visible  evidence 
of  this  closer  relationship  by  a  sign  in  the  flesh. 
I  am  opposed  to  circumcision  on  principle  and  declare 
every  Jew,  who  confides  in  my  religious  insight  and 
conscientiousness,  to  be  absolved  from  all  obligation  in 
this  matter.  Yes,  I  declare  every  Jew  who  neglects  to 
have  his  son  circumcised  because  of  his  larger  belief 


92  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

to  be  a  true  and  complete  Jew.  Finally,  I  declare 
righteousness  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  i.  e. 
equality  for  all  men,  humanity  and  brotherhood 
together  with  the  living  stirring  zeal  to  realize  these 
things  in  all  circles  of  life  to  be  the  practical  realization 
of  the  God-cognition  of  Judaism  and  hence  the  true 
and  pure  Judaism." 

After  this  exposition  of  Holdheim's  theology  a  word 
must  be  said  about  the  sermons  which  he  delivered 
during  his  incumbency  of  the  Berlin  pulpit.  The 
four  volumes  containing  them  are  a  treasure  trove  of 
Jewish  thought.  The  words  palpitate  with  warm 
Jewish  feeling.  Whoever  reads  them  must  grant 
that  this  preacher  was  imbued  with  true  Jewish 
sentiment,  that  he  was  a  thinker  treading  the  very 
heights  of  humanity,  and  a  scholar  wrho  had  drunk 
very  deeply  at  the  sources  of  Jewrish  learning,  Whether 
one  agree  or  differ  with  his  theology  and  his  interpre- 
tation of  Jewish  tradition,  there  can  rot  be  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  that  this  extreme  radical  among  the  re- 
formers was  as  sincere  in  his  conviction  of  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  Judaism  as  was  the  most  uncompro- 
mising adherent  to  the  codes.  From  here,  there  and 
everywhere  in  these  sermons,  glowing  periods  can 
be  cited  which  evidence  the  depth  of  his  conviction 
of  Judaism's  truth  and  Israel's  great  service  to 
humanity.  We  will  have  to  content  ourselves  with 
an  extract  taken  from  the  sermon  on  "Our  Priestly 
Mission,"  a  panegyric  on  Israel's  devotion  and  a  call 
to  the  Jews  of  the  present  to  be  faithful  to  the  obli- 
gations resting  on  them:  "There  is  no  people  that  has 
suffered  so  much  for  the  truth  or  endured  so  much 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  93 

in  the  name  of  loyalty  as  have  the  Jews;  there  is  no 
people  so  deserving  of  the  title  of  a  priest  people 
by  merit  of  two  thousand  years  of  sacrifice  and  self- 
denial  as  are  the  Jews.  Israel  was  called  to  olant  the 
faith  in  the  hearts  of  the  nations.  But  which  is  the 
seed-corn  that  planted  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth, 
produces  the  living  tree  of  religion?  Truly  ~i£K  PN 
D'~m  pxi  it  is  neither  speech  nor  words,  JflDtW  '73 
C&ip  whose  sound  soon  disappears  and  dies  away; 
nay  D^P  NV  p«n  *?3l-  through  all  the  earth  the 
bloody  seed  is  'scattered,  DiT?o  73D  HVp3l  to  the  end 
of  the  world  the  agonized  cry  of  the  martyrs  pene- 
trates! This  method  of  teaching  and  of  witnessing  to 
the  faith  is  more  efficacious  than  that  whereby  the  fol- 
lowers of  other  religions  seek  to  spread  their  faith. 
If  hundreds  of  thousands  of  families,  men  and  women, 
hoary  heads,  youths  and  maidens  ascended  the  flaming 
funeral  pyre  and  breathed  their  last  with  the  Sh'ma 
Yisrael  upon  their  lips,  this  is  a  more  telling  manner 
of  teaching  and  proclaiming  one's  faith  than  to 
preach  from  pulpits,  in  the  streets  or  from  the  house 
tops  and  to  portray  the  strength  of  faith  ir.  weak 
sounding  words.  If  other  hundreds  of  thousands 
were  chased  into  misery  and  destruction,  still  others 
cast  into  the  waves  or  sold  as  slaves,  if  multitudes 
died  of  hunger  and  the  remnant  that  was  rescued 
brought  nothing  into  strange  lands  but  purity  of 
conscience,  faithfulness  of  soul  and  innocence  of 
heart,  surely  they  have  secured  thereby  the  right  to 
call  themselves  the  bearers  of  pure  faith  for  humanity. 
Humanity  which  sinned  so  sorely  against  Israel,  may 
indeed  grant  Israel  the  distinction  and  the  glory  to 


94  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

still  call  itself  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  people. 
The  old  priests  had  atoned  for  the  sins  of  men  by 
offering  sacrifices  which  they  burnt  on  the  altar; 
the  new  priests  have  atoned  for  the  sins  of  humanity 
inasmuch  as  they  immolated  themselves  as  sacrifices 
on  the  altar  of  faith,  fealty  and  conviction.  Israel 
has  not  sent  out  any  missionaries  to  carry  its  faith 
to  mankind.  But  what  need  had  it  of  missionaries 
when  it  itself  went  to  the  nations  as  the  messenger  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  engraved  its  belief  on  the 
stony  hearts  of  men  with  the  stylus  dipped  in  its  own 
heart's  blood.  Israel  required  no  Messiah  in  the 
generally  accepted  sense  of  the  word  because  it  itself 
suffered  and  agonized  for  its  faith,  because  it  itself 
died  for  its  faith  and  was  resurrected  time  and  again. 

Thus  has  Israel  been  true  to  its  priestly  mission  in 
perilous  days  when  no  other  manner  of  teaching  was 
allowed  it.  This  period  of  probation  has  passed  but 
our  mission  is  not  yet  over.  Still  must  we  in  as  far  as 
it  is  our  duty  to  be  disciples  of  Aaron,  nvon  DX  ams 
min^>  ptpOl,  love  men  and  bring  them  nigh  to  pure 
religion  but  also  Dl^K'  rpm  DI^E?  nnis  love  peace  and 
preserve  peace." 

The  man  who  could  speak  thus  passionately  of 
Israel's  service  through  the  centuries  of  martyrdom 
and  had  such  a  conception  of  Israel's  priestly  mission 
was  in  all  truth  a  worthy  proclaimer  of  God's  word 
to  the  world,  aye  was  deserving  of  being  termed  a 

"great  master  in   Israel, the  lion  in  the 

struggle  for  light  and  truth"  as  David  Einhorn,  that 
other  great  reformer,  who  knew  him  and  his  work 
so  well  designated  him. 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  95 


The  forty-six  years  which  have  elapsed  since 
Holdheim's  death  have  smoothed  away  many  of  the 
animosities  and  bitternesses  which  were  engendered 
during  his  lifetime.  To  the  scathing  and  denuncia- 
tory estimates  formed  of  the  radical  by  his  con- 
temporaneous opponents  of  the  conservative  wing, 
notably  Frankel  and  Sachs,  I  refer  only  in  passing 
but  more  than  a  word  must  be  devoted  to  condemna- 
tion of  the  unjustifiable  treatment  of  the  whole  re- 
form movement  and  notably  of  Holdheim  in  the 
work  which  is  accepted  as  the  authoritative  history 
of  the  Jews,  Graetz'  magnum  opus.  Graetz  writes 
here  not  as  a  historian,  but  as  a  bitter  partisan;  he 
had  no  appreciation  and  no  understanding  whatso- 
ever of  the  true  significance  of  the  reform  movement; 
his  account  is  not  history  but  polemics;  it  is  a  mis- 
fortune that  this  portion  of  the  eleventh  volume  was 
ever  written;  no  man  who  was  in  the  thick  of  the 
contest  and  was  as  decided  an  opponent  as  was 
Graetz  is  able  to  present  a  fair  account;  Graetz  has 
given  us  a  party  pamphlet,  not  an  impartial 
estimate.  Whatever  faults  and  shortcomings 
Holdheim  had  there  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  that 
he  was  thoroughly  honest  in  his  convictions;  he  was 
led  from  step  to  step  in  his  radical's  progress  by  the 
conception  he  formed  of  Judaism's  place  in  the  world 
as  a  universal  religion.  The  serious  mistake  which  he 
made  was  that  he  was  guided  altogether  by  intellectual 
forms  and  took  not  sufficient  note  of  historical  forces 
and  social  determinants.  No  religion,  Judaism  or 
any  other,  is  simply  a  philosophical  discipline;  the 
forces  which  have  been  at  work  in  shaping  the  ex- 


96  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


pression  that  a  religion  takes  must  enter  largely  into 
the  reformer's  workshop.  No  reformer  can  begin 
de  novo;  he  is  not  a  creator,  he  is  not  God;  he  must 
work  with  the  material  in  hand;  true,  he  must  remove 
abuses  which  have  sprung  up  in  the  course  of  time, 
he  must  necessarily  destroy,  but  much  more,  he  must 
re-interpret,  re-adapt,  re-construct.  The  prophet  was 
sent  not  only  prwi  t?in:7  "to  root  out,  to  pull  down 
and  to  destroy,"  but  also  Vlt^i  nu:r?  "to  plant  and  to 
build."  Holdheim  who  was  all  intellect  had  little 
patience  with  anything  that  conflicted  with  his  intel- 
lectual conclusions ;  his  system  of  theology  gave  not 
sufficient  place  to  the  historical  element  of  Jewish  de- 
velopment; in  his  broad  conception  of  the  principle  of 
tradition  he  disregarded  too  much  special  traditions 
and  ceremonies  that  still  might  have  had  and  did  have 
potency  and  power.  He  proceeded  from  an  "abso- 
lute" instead  of  a  "relative"  point  of  view.  In  one 
way  he  saw  too  clearly,  impatiently  brushing  away 
everything  that  obstructed  his  vision,  in  another  he 
was  short-sighted  in  that  he  failed  to  appreciate  that 
religion,  and  notably  the  Jewish  religion,  is  a  life, 
the  century-old  experience  of  a  community  which 
developed  along  particular  lines.  Reform  can  not 
proceed  according  to  a  program  as  iconoclastic  as 
Holdheim's;  not  only  the  intellect  must  be  reckoned 
with,  but  also  the  historical  consciousness  of  the  people ; 
not  only  the  spirit  of  the  age  must  be  considered 
but  also  the  genius  of  Israel.  This  explains  in  chief 
part  why  the  Berlin  Congregation  which  translated 
Holdheim's  interpretation  of  Judaism  into  practice 
remained  so  isolated  a  phenomenon  in  the  life  of 


SAMUEL  HOLDHEIM  97 

German  Jewry.  In  the  last  instance,  however,  it 
must  be  granted  that  Holdheim  did  much  (and  this 
is  his  chief  merit)  to  present  clearly  the  fundamental 
teachings  of  Judaism  in  their  spiritual  aspect;  uni- 
versalism  is  his  reading  of  Judaism's  mission;  his 
dictum  is  that  the  revelation  of  God  is  continuous, 
history  being  the  medium  of  that  revelation ;  to  the 
latest  as  well  as  to  early  generations,  God  unfolds 
his  purposes;  with  the  enunciation  of  this  great  and 
inspiring  doctrine  Samuel  Holdheim 's  name  will  ever 
be  associated;  by  written  and  spoken  word,  in  ser- 
mon and  in  life  he  preached  to  his  own  and  to  future 
generations,  as  did  the  great  American  poet, 

"God  is  not  dumb  that  he  should  speak  no  more; 

If  thou  hast  wanderings  in  the  wilderness 

And  find'st  not  Sinai,  'tis  thy  soul  is  poor; 

There  towers  the  mountain  of  the  Voice,  no  less, 

Which  whoso  seeks  shall  find,  but  he  who  bends 

Intent  on  manna  still  and  mortal  ends, 

Sees  it  not,  neither  hears  its  thundered  lore. 

Slowly  the  Bible  of  the  race  is  writ, 

And  not  on  paper  leaves  or  leaves  of  stone ; 

Each  age,  each  kindred,  adds  a  verse  to  it, 

Texts  of  despair,  of  joy  or  moan. 

While  swings  the  sea,  while  mists  the  mountains  shroud, 

While  thunder's  surges  burst  on  cliffs  of  cloud, 

Still  at  the  prophets'  feet  the  nations  sit." 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER.* 
(1810-1910). 

ABRAHAM  GEIGER,  who  combined  to  a  degree 
as  did. few  others  of  his  generation  the  mastery 
of  Jewish  lore  with  secular  learning,  was  peculiarly 
fitted  to  become  a  leader  of  that  movement  in 
Judaism  which  applying  the  touchstone  of  develop- 
ment to  the  traditions  of  the  past  was  to  interpret 
the  eternal  message  of  Judaism  in  a  manner  con- 
sonant with  the  spirit  of  modernity.  His  was 
primarily  the  historical  temper.  By  a  thorough 
study  of  the  past  he  became  convinced  that  there 
had  always  been  a  developing  force  in  Judaism;  this 
may  have  been  in  abeyance  at  times  but  to  him  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  Judaism  spelt  development 
and  that  Judaism's  history  and  literature  if  studied 
and  correctly  grasped  yielded  irrefutable  proofs  of 
the  truth  of  this  statement.  He  felt  that  a  time  had 
come  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  people  when  a  new 
interpretation  of  the  eternal  values  of  Judaism  was 
imperative  but  he  would  have  this  interpretation 
evolutionary  and  not  revolutionary.1  The  tree  of  Juda- 

"Centenary  address  at  meeting  of  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis,  July  1,  1910. 

}  Wenn  auf  irgend  einen  Gebiete  so  ist  naemlich  auf  dem 
religioesen  das  Verfahren  der  Reform  allein  segenbringend,  die 
Revolution  nur  geeignet,  alien  Lebenskraften  ein  gefaehrliches 
Siechthum  beizubringen.  Nachgelassene  Schriften  I.  205.  See 
also  Ibid.  V.,  196,  202,  and  J.  Z.  W.  L.  VI.,  4. 

99 


100  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

ism,  rooted  in  the  far  past,  still  had  life  force  suffi- 
cient to  send  forth  new  branches.  The  movement 
for  reform  as  he  conceived  it  was  not  to  be  a  break 
with  the  past.2  From  the  very  moment  that  he  en- 
tered upon  the  active  practice  of  the  rabbinical 
profession  in  Wiesbaden  he  committed  himself  without 
reserve  to  the  advocacy  of  the  reform  movement.3 
In  a  letter  written  in  1836  to  his  friend,  M.  A.  Stern, 
the  celebrated  mathematician,  he  declared  that 
"not  emancipation  but  reform  was  the  leading  issue 
of  the  day  for  the  Jews."4  He  never  faltered  in  this 
faith;  he  wanted  a  living  Judaism,  not  a  religion 
that  was  a  mere  survival  of  a  vanished  past.  In  a 
hundred  and  one  forms  he  expressed  himself  to  this 
effect;  "we  want  bread  for  our  hunger,"  he  wrote 
passionately,  "water  for  our  thirst;  the  spirit  ought 
to  receive  fresh  powerful  nourishment  and  we  are 
being  trifled  with  and  flowers  are  given  us  and  that 
too  of  doubtful  fragrance;  we  want  a  faith  that 
satisfies  the  spirit  and  inspires  us  to  accomplish  deeds 
for  the  present  day  and  thev  rear  us  to  be  men  who 
dream  only  of  the  past;  we  want  a  love  that  bears 
fruit  and  they  feed  us  on  effeminate  piety  and  weak, 
heartless  sentimentality.  An  interest  in  the  past 
arises  only  from  a  living  present;  if  Judaism  were  to 
manifest  itself  as  a  living  force  in  us,  we  would  know 
that  this  force  must  have  been  creative  at  all  times 
and  we  would  notice  attentively  the  results  of  this 

2  Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft  und  Leben,  V.,  251. 

3  Letter  to  Salomon  Geiger  of  date  April  19,  1833,    Nach- 
gelassene  Schriften  V.  80. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  89. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  101 


creative  force."5  Ever  and  all  the  time  this  is  the 
burden  of  his  thought.  Reform  is  a  link  in  the  chain 
of  Judaism's  development;6  it  is  vain  to  retain  such 
institutions  and  doctrines  as  are  moribund,  "whatever 
the  spirit  of  history  in  which  God  reveals  himself,  has 
removed  and  buried  no  human  skill  can  resuscitate 
and  revivify."7  This  is  one  of  Geiger's  most  illumi- 
nating thoughts;  God  reveals  himself  constantly 
in  the  course  of  history;  if  men  have  ears  to  hear  and 
eyes  to  see,  they  will  grasp  the  constantly  appearing 
revelation;  past,  present  and  future  are  indissolubly 
connected;  we  must  gain  knowledge  and  insight  from 
the  experiences  of  past  generations  but  we  must  live 
in  the  present  and  toil  intelligently  for  the  future.8 
Fealty  to  Judaism  does  not  demand  a  blind  adherence 
to  the  past  without  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the 
living  present.  True,  there  is  a  spirit  of  Jewish 
tradition  which  the  ages  have  been  producing;  this 
spirit  of  tradition  has  expressed  itself  in  thousands  of 
separate  traditions  which  we  term  customs,  cere- 
monies and  forms;  these  separate  traditions  arise 
and  pass;  the  developing  spirit  brings  forth  many 
different  traditions  in  varied  ages  and  places.  To 
cling  to  past  traditions  merely  because  at  some  time 
or  other  the  spirit  of  Judaism  has  produced  them,  is 
to  indulge  in  a  hazy  romanticism  which  prefers  the 


5  Israelit  des  Neunzehnlen  Jahrhunderts,  VII.  (1846)  7. 

6  Nachgelassene  Schnften,  V.  147.     Ibid.,  I.  204. 

7  Ibid.,  V.  190. 

8  Aus    der     Vergangenheit    schoepfen,    in    der    Gegenwart 
leben,  fuer  die  Zukunft  wirken;"  motto  accompanying  Geiger's 
picture  1857,  Nachgelassene  Schnften  V.  279. 


102  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


dim  light  of  the  vanished  past  to  the  bright  day  of  the 
glowing  present. 

Geiger  had  no  patience  with  this  romantic  attitude. 
He  visited  it  with  all  the  scorn  at  his  command. 
He  felt  that  it  was  an  undue  exaltation  of  the  past 
at  the  expense  of  the  present  and  that  it  gave  evidence 
of  an  unhealthy  state  of  mind.9  His  was  a  peculiarly 
sane  temperament.  He  was  not  a  blind  worshipper 
of  the  past,  neither  was  he  a  ruthless  iconoclast.  He 
was  neither  reactionary  nor  radical,  neither  roman- 
ticist nor  ultra-modernist.  He  was  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word  a  reformer,  who  felt  that  the  present  can 
continue  all  that  is  fine  and  worthy  in  the  past  by 
presenting  the  everlasting  truth  of  Judaism  in  a  form 
which  attracts  the  contemporary  generation.  In  a 
dissertation  on  the  reform  of  the  ritual  he  set  this 
forth  very  clearly,  "Every  reform,"  he  wrote,  "is  a 
transition  from  the  past  into  a  regenerated  future;  such 
reform  does  not  break  with  the  past  but  rather  pre- 
serves carefully  the  bond  which  connects  the  present 
with  the  past;  it  not  only  continues  the  once  living 
spirit  in  new  vital  forms,  thereby  strengthening  this 
spirit  anew,  but  it  retains  all  the  charming  attach- 
ment to  that  which  has  grown  precious  and  dear  in 
the  religious  life.  Such  reform  proceeds  not  with 
inexorable  logic,  it  follows  the  law  of  historical 
development."10  In  his  view  reform  was  simply 
the  latest  stage  in  the  process  of  Jewish  development. 
He  differed  radically  with  the  traditionalists  who 

9  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.  88.      Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer 
Wissenschaft  und  Leben,  VI.,  20. 

10  Unser  Gottesaienst  in  J.  Z.  W.  L.  VI.  (1868)  4. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  103 


claimed  that  every  expression  in  the  Talmud  and  the 
codes  was  authoritative;  he  would  not  concede  that 
the  possibilities  of  Judaism  had  become  exhausted 
with  the  work  of  the  Talmudical  doctors;  all  ages 
present  and  to  come  had  their  contribution  to  make 
to  the  religion  no  less  than  the  ages  agone.  If  the 
traditionalists  were  right  in  their  position  that  all 
tradition  was  in  the  Talmud,  then  in  all  the  centuries 
which  have  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  Talmud, 
Judaism  has  been  only  a  lingering  survival  and  has 
been  merely  feeding  on  the  products  of  a  vanished 
past.  Inasmuch  as  they  looked  upon  Judaism  as 
having  slept  during  all  this  time  they  have  no  right 
to  speak  of  a  tradition  three  thousand  years  old. 
But  whatever  the  traditionalists  may  claim  there 
could  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  in  the  conflicts 
and  tendencies  of  the  modern  age  the  spirit  of  Judaism 
was  reasserting  itself  in  a  new  way  and  God  was 
revealing  himself  in  a  new  manner.11 

Through  the  expression  of  such  views  Geiger  and 
his  sympathizers  naturally  aroused  the  bitter  an- 
tagonism of  the  rabbis  of  the  old  school  and  their 
followers.  For  these  Judaism  was  a  closed  chapter. 
The  teachings  and  observances  of  the  religion  as 

11  Man  duerfe  nicht  von  einer  drei  Tausend  jaehrigen 
Tradition  sprechen  wenn  man  sie  als  bereits  fast  zwei  tausend 
Jahre  entchlafen  betrachte.  Der  Faden  der  Tradition  sei  in 
der  Gegenwart  gerade  wieder  angeknuepft.  Das  in  gesetzliche 
Erstarrung  gerathene  religioese  Bewusstsein  der  Gesammtheit 
habe  seit  laengerer  Zeit  begonnen  fluessig  zu  werden,  wieder 
sei  eine  lebendige  Anschauung  erwacht,wenn  sie  auch  noch  nicht 
zur  vollen  Klarheit  sich  entwickelt  habe.  See  Protokolle  der 
dritten  Versammlung  deutscher  Rabbiner,  160. 


104  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


codified  in  the  Schulchan  Arttkh  were  to  be  accepted 
and  carried  out  without  question.  The  reformers 
on  the  other  hand  contended  for  the  freedom  of  re- 
search and  investigation  into  each  and  any  religious 
institution  or  tradition.  This  antagonism  reached 
an  acute  stage  when  Geiger  was  elected  rabbi  of  the 
Breslau  congregation  in  1838.  Solomon  Tiktin  who  had 
been  rabbi  of  the  congregation  for  many  years  refused 
to  recognize  Geiger  as  an  associate.  This  aged  rabbi 
could  not  understand  that  a  new  generation  had 
arisen  which  demanded  a  reformulation  of  Jewish 
values.  He  contended  that  freedom  of  research 
as  required  by  the  advocates  of  what  was  known  as 
the  Wissenschaft  des  Judenthums  was  intolerable. 
The  rabbi  had  simply  to  conduct  his  office  along 
traditional  lines;  it  was  not  his  concern  to  ask  con- 
cerning or  inquire  into  the  reason  of  religious  cere- 
mony or  custom;  he  had  only  to  decide  according  to 
the  dicta  of  tradition  as  formulated  in  the  code.  The 
refusal  of  Tiktin  to  recognize  Geiger  as  his  associate 
in  the  performance  of  the  functions  of  the  rabbinical 
office  led  the  board  of  directors  of  the  congregation, 
in  their  desire  to  solve  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
to  suggest  that  Geiger  be  designated  the  preacher  of 
the  congregation  while  Tiktin  continued  to  be  known 
as  the  rabbi.  This  suggestion  was  tantamount  to 
recognizing  an  old  and  a  new  Judaism,  the  old  em- 
bodied in  strict  rabbinism  as  represented  by  Tiktin, 
the  new  spelling  modernism  as  appearing  in  Geiger, 
a  young  man  of  modern  training.  Geiger  refused  to 
lend  himself  to  such  a  compomise;  he  contended 
that  if  the  new  conditions  in  Jewry  demanded  men  of 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  105 

modern  training  in  the  rabbinical  office,  then  it  was 
intolerable  to  refuse  to  such  men  the  recognition  of 
rabbinical  authority.  The  threatening  break  be- 
tween the  old  and  new  could  be  healed  only  if  the 
people  had  before  them  in  the  activity  of  the  rabbi- 
preacher  the  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of  the 
joining  of  the  spirit  of  tradition  with  the  spirit  of  the 
modern  age. 

Tiktin  continuing  in  his  recalcitrant  attitude,  the 
board  of  directors  found  themselves  compelled  to 
suspend  him  from  office.  The  aged  rabbi  now  ad- 
dressed a  number  of  his  colleagues  on  the  subject  in 
dispute  and  published  their  opinions  in  a  pamphlet.12 
These  rabbis  declared  unreservedly  for  the  absolute 
and  eternal  authority  of  all  Talmudical  legislation,  as 
"binding  for  all  time  upon  the  Jews  and  not  one  of 
these  commandments  or  prohibitions,  be  its  character 
what  it  may,  can  ever  be  abolished  or  modified  by  any 
human  authority." 

Fortified  by  these  unequivocal  declarations,  Tiktin 
charged  the  board  of  directors  with  malfeasance  in 
office  for  having  selected  as  rabbi  a  man  "who  in 
spoken  and  written  discourse  denies  unreservedly  the 
authoritative  validity  of  traditional  Judaism  and 
whose  call  and  mission  appears  to  be  to  extirpate  it 
root  and  branch  for  all  time." 

Thus  challenged,  the  board  of  directors  in  their 
turn  addressed  a  cummunication  to  a  number  of  the 
leading  rabbis  of  Europe  requesting  their  opinion  on 
the  compatibility  of  free  research  with  the  per- 

12  Darstellung  des  Sachverhaeltnisses  in  seiner  hiesigen  Rab- 
binatsangelegenheit. 


106  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

formance  of  the  functions  involved  in  the  conduct  of 
the  rabbinical  office.  The  seventeen  answers  re- 
ceived were  published  in  two  volumes.13  These 
volumes  were  the  most  important  publications  which 
had  appeared  up  to  that  time  touching  the  con- 
troversies engendered  by  the  liberal  religious  ten- 
dencies among  Jews;  these  rabbis14  all  endorsed  the 
position  of  Geiger  in  the  premises.  This  collection 
of  opinions  is  notable  inasmuch  as  the  new  situation 
is  viewed  from  many  angles  by  men  of  profound  learn- 
ing and  clear  vision. 

The  Geiger-Tiktin  affair  served  a  useful  end  inas- 
much as  it  called  forth  a  clear  expression  of  the  pros 
and  cons  of  the  situation.  But  perhaps  the  chief 
gain  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  responses  of  the  seventeen 
rabbis  gave  evidence  of  the  fact  that  they  like  Geiger 
were  convinced  that  the  new  valuation  of  Judaism 
involved  no  break  with  the  past  but  a  re-interpreta- 
tion of  the  finest  spiritual  products  of  that  past 
in  the  light  of  the  greatly  changed  outlook  of  Jewish 
life  in  the  present. 

Geiger  then,  and  those  of  his  contemporaries  who 
sympathized  with  him  rested  their  reforms  on  a 
historical  basis.  He  viewed  the  whole  course  of  the 
development  of  the  Jewish  religion  from  the  very 
beginning.  He  recognized  the  increasing  purpose 
running  through  the  ages.  The  deliverance  from 
Egypt,  the  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  the  entrance 
into  and  the  life  in  Palestine,  the  preaching  of  the 

13  Rabbinische  Gutachten  ueber  die  Vertraeglichkeit  der  freien 
Forschung  mil  dem  Rabbineramte,  (Breslau  1844). 

14  For  a  detailed  account  see  Philipson  The  Reform  Movement 
in  Judaism,  72-101. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  107 

prophets,  the  Babylonian  exile,  the  second  Palestinian 
commonwealth,  the  dispersion  in  Greek  speaking 
lands  before  the  Christian  era,  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  with  the  consequent  settling  of  Jews  in  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world,  the  harrowing  experiences 
in  the  centuries  of  persecution,  the  emancipation  of 
the  modern  age,  all  these  phases  in  the  century-long 
travail  of  the  Jewish  people  with  their  accompanying 
spiritual  uplift  or  depression,  were  parts  of  one  con- 
nected whole;  each  age  produced  its  own  characteristic 
tendency  and  so,  too,  the  modern  age  was  signalized 
by  the  reform  movement,  the  latest  link  in  this  chain 
of  development.  Geiger  saw  the  story  of  Judaism 
clearly  and  he  saw  it  whole.  How  clearly  appears  from 
many  a  passage  in  his  writings  one  of  which  may  be 
reproduced  as  indicative  of  all  the  rest:  "How 
Judaism  arose  and  gradually  assumed  the  Biblical 
form,  how  the  various  movements  within  it  whose  in- 
dividuality we  still  recognize,  adjusted  themselves  to 
one  another,  how  from  the  same  moving  forces  the 
law  as  developed  in  the  Talmudical  discussions 
gradually  emerged  to  the  forefront,  how  finally  the 
mediaeval  age  spent  itself  often  meritoriously  but 
with  only  meager  results  in  commenting  upon  and 
expounding  this  Talmudical  legislation,  how  the  mis- 
sion of  the  present  is  to  redeem  the  spirit  from  these 
petrified  forms  and  thus  to  introduce  Judaism  into  the 
thick  of  human  activity  as  a  life  giving,  spiritual 
and  religious  force;  this  is  a  world  mission,  for  which 
the  present  age  seeks  its  organs  and  will  find  them .  .  . 
Let  us  honor  worthily  the  great  names  which  have 
become  historical,  let  us  honor  their  memory;  but 
then  courageously  forward,  new  aims  before  us!  Let 


108  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


not  the  mouldy  smell  of  the  past  as  it  arises  from 
graves  benumb  us,  but  let  the  energizing  breath  of 
the  atmosphere  of  the  future  be  wafted  toward  us."16 
At  the  very  outset  of  his  career  Geiger  indicated 
the  method  which  he  intended  to  pursue  in  his  work  of 
reform.  Fully  convinced  even  then  of  the  necessity  of 
building  the  structure  of  the  reform  movement  on  a 
historical  and  scientific  basis  in  order  to  demonstrate 
its  place  in  the  development  of  Jewish  religious  effort 
and  aspiration,  he  took  steps  towards  this  end. 
With  his  keen  historical  sense,  his  wide  learning  and  his 
philosophical  grasp  he  understood  the  meaning  of  the 
larger  forces  at  work  in  his  generation,  and  recognized 
that  the  liberation  of  thought  apparent  everywhere 
was  affecting  the  Jews  also  and  hence  Judaism  both  in 
the  outer  form  which  it  had  assumed  during  its  cen- 
turied  existence  and  in  its  inner  content  must  be 
interpreted  in  accordance  with  the  new  outlook  of  the 
modern  age.  This  re-interpretation  must  rest  upon  a 
Jewish  foundation.  The  Jewish  past  must  be  viewed 
from  a  new  angle  of  vision.  The  volumes  of  Jewish 
lore  must  be  studied  in  the  light  of  the  conditions  of 
the  times  and  places  in  which  they  had  been  written. 
The  forces  at  work  in  Jewish  life  must  be  learned  from 
the  literary  monuments  that  had  survived  from  days 
past.  This  systematic  study  of  the  productions  of  the 
Jewish  spirit  was  called  the  Science  of  Judaism.16 

16  Kley  und  Rapoport,  Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissen- 
schaft  undLeben,  V.  251. 

16  The  term  Science  of  Judaism  which  for  want  of  a  better 
we  are  compelled  to  use  must  be  understood  in  the  original  and 
larger  meaning  of  the  term  "science"  as  "knowledge,"  and  not 
in  the  restricted  sense  which  it  now  usually  has  of  "natural 
science." 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  109 


(Die  Wissenschaft  des  Judenthums).  This  was  the 
first  article  of  Geiger's  program,  namely  to  demon- 
strate by  the  study  of  Jewish  sources,  the  develop- 
ment and  growth  of  Jewish  institutions  and  by  thus 
demonstrating  the  fact  of  such  development  and 
growth  to  secure  the  justification  for  the  reform 
movement  and  ensure  its  place  as  the  latest  phase 
in  the  development  of  Judaism.17  It  is  true  that  this 
had  been  the  thought  of  that  band  of  young  men, 
chief  of  whom  was  Leopold  Zunz,  who  had  organized 
in  1819  the  Society  for  the  Science  of  Judaism.  The 
great  monument  of  this  pre-Geiger  movement  was 
Zunz'  epoch  making  work  Die  Gottesdienstlichen 
Vortraege  der  Juden,  in  which  the  author  by  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  homiletic  works  of  the  Jews 
proved  that  preaching  in  the  vernacular  far  from  be- 
ing an  innovation  had  been  in  vogue  in  Jewish  com- 
munities of  aforetimes.  Preaching  in  the  vernacular 
was  one  of  the  so-called  innovations  of  the  reformers ; 
such  preaching  had  been  practically  unknown  among 
the  Jews  for  several  centuries;  Zunz  proved  that  this 
was  due  simply  to  the  conditions  of  Jewish  life;  the 
need  for  such  preaching  being  now  again  felt,  it  was 
quite  in  accord  with  the  Jewish  spirit.  This  work  of 
Zunz  furnished  a  brilliant  example  of  the  possibilities 
of  founding  reforms  on  a  scientific  basis.  Geiger 
made  such  scientific  study  the  point  of  departure  for 
his  activity  as  a  reformer. 

When  twenty-five  years  of  age,  he  began  the  pub- 
lication of  his  magazine  Die   Wissenschaftliche  Zeit- 
schrift  fuer  judische  Theologie  (Scientific  Magazine  for 
17  Philipson,  The  Reform  Movement-  in  Judaism,  66. 


110  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Jewish  Theology.)  During  the  thirteen  years  of  the 
existence  of  this  magazine,  he  published  in  its  pages 
many  profound  and  erudite  studies  as  well  as  a  series 
of  brilliant  articles  on  present  religious  conditions 
which  necessitated  the  movement  for  reform.  The 
one  lasting  result  of  the  conference  of  rabbis  which  he 
convened  at  Wiesbaden  where  he  began  his  rabbinical 
career,  was  the  impetus  to  study  various  perplexing 
subjects  which  were  demanding  attention  and  to 
draw  conclusions  for  the  guidance  of  contemporaneous 
Jewish  communities  from  such  study.18  In  a  letter 
written  to  his  friend  J.  Derenbourg  in  Paris  on 
January  16,  1838  in  a  moment  of  deep  depression, 
Geiger  after  deploring  the  difficulties  encountered 
in  the  struggle  with  orthodoxy,  states  that  he  may 
find  it  necessary  to  retire  from  the  field  of  active  life 
"and  to  devote  himself  to  pure  learning  in  order  to 
find  and  to  give  expression  there  to  the  truths  which 
still  form  the  center  of  my  efforts  and  to  leave  their 
practical  application  to  others."19  In  these  words  he 
indicates  briefly  but  fully  his  idea  of  the  institution  of 
reforms;  the  principles  and  truths  were  to  be  sought 
in  study;  thereupon  they  were  to  be  applied  in  practice. 
For  him  the  reform  movement  was  not  opportunistic, 
but  it  was  spirit  of  Judaism's  spirit;  it  was  as  essential 
a  product  of  this  spirit  as  were  any  of  the  movements 
in  Jewish  life  from  the  very  beginning.  As  his  life 


18  See  letter  written  by  Geiger  to  Jacob  Auerbach,  August 
22,  1837,  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.  99. 

19  Abraham  Geiger' s  Brief e  an  J.  Derenbourg  herausgegaben 
von  Ludwig  Geiger,  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums  1896, 
p.  236-8. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  111 

advanced  he  became  more  and  more  convinced  that 
this  was  the  true  method  for  the  placing  of  the  reform 
movement  on  a  solid  foundation.  This  becomes  clear 
when  one  examines  the  last  productions  of  his  pen  which 
appeared  in  the  second  magazine  that  he  founded,  his 
Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft  und  Leben 
(Jewish  Magazine  for  Knowledge  and  Life,  1861- 
1875).  The  opening  article  of  that  magazine  may 
be  considered  as  expressing  his  matured  thought;  it 
is  remarkable  how  closely  it  adheres  to  the  ideas  to 
which  he  gave  voice  twenty-five  years  previously  on 
this  subject;  he  never  swerved  from  the  position 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  past  productions  of  the 
Jewish  spirit  must  form  the  foundation  whereon  all 
Jewish  effort  must  build.  The  life  of  the  present 
must  draw  its  inspiration  and  its  strength  from  the 
strain  and  striving  of  all  the  ages  past. 

The  belief  in  Judaism's  gradual  development  as 
evidenced  by  the  study  of  the  religio-literary  products 
of  ages  past  being  the  prime  article  of  Geiger's  program 
as  a  reformer  his  specific  attitude  in  the  practical 
religious  activities  of  his  generation  naturally  rested 
upon  this.  He  deprecated  constantly  revolutionary 
and  radical  methods.  Reform  must  be  gradual  not 
revolutionary;20  changes  must  be  gradual,  not  violent;21 
reform  must  be  constructive,  not  merely  destructive  ;22 
reform  must  be  not  a  movement  of  shreds  and  patches, 


20  Nachgelassene  Schriften,   I.   205-6.    Juedische  Zeitschrift 
fuer  Wissenschaft  und  Leben,  VI.,  4. 

21  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.  196,  202,  206-7. 

22  "Mein  Streben  ging  niemals  dahin  bios  abzuwerfen,  etc." 
Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.  141. 


112  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

but  a  comprehensive  understanding  of  the  philosophy 
of  Judaism.23  Neither  must  the  reformer  act  simply 
as  an  individual  but  he  must  have  in  mind  the  re- 
ligious welfare  of  all  Jewry;  he  is  a  part  of  a  great 
historical  community  from  which  in  his  zeal  for  re- 
forming he  may  not  cut  himself  loose;  hence  reforms 
must  be  achieved  within  the  congregation  as  a  link 
with  the  whole  body  of  Judaism  ;24  yet  the  needs  and 
the  rights  of  the  individual  may  not  be  sacrificed 
to  the  blind  fetich  worship  of  the  past  and  an  undue 
regard  for  catholic  Israel.25  His  personal  attitude  in 
this  matter  is  clearly  expressed  in  a  letter  written  to 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Breslau  Congregation 
in  answer  to  a  request  for  an  explanation  of  his 
attitude  as  a  reformer.  In  this  letter  he  wrote  as 
follows:  "I  have  always  advocated  such  true  and  real 
progress  whose  aim  it  is  to  strengthen  the  pure  divine 
content  of  Judaism  in  the  heart  by  freeing  it  of 
temporal  dross ;  I  have  been  and  am  constantly  striving 
to  give  religious  forms  an  interpretation  which  is 
likely  to  awaken  to  life  and  kindle  sentiment  *  *  * 
The  rabbi  who  is  sincerely  concerned  for  the  welfare 
of  the  whole  congregation  and  who  has  the  religious 
life  of  all  at  heart  will  act  as  a  conciliating,  enlighten- 
ing, stimulating  influence;  he  will  strive  to  maintain 
himself  free  from  partisanship  and  the  more  difficult 
this  is  in  the  violent  storms  of  the  present  the  more 
must  he  aim  to  attain  this  position."26  He  stood  pre- 


23  Ibid.,  p.  188  ff. 

24  Ibid.,  I.,  205. 

26  Ibid.,  206.     See  also  Juedisc lie  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft 
undLeben,  III.,  216-18. 

26  Israeli!  des  Neunzehuten  Jahrhunderts,  VI.,  160. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  113 

eminently  for  sane,  historical  reform.  There  was 
nothing  revolutionary  or  radical  in  his  make-up  yet 
he  counselled  patience  in  dealing  with  the  radical 
temper;  in  speaking  of  the  radicals  in  his  own  con- 
gregation he  said  "I  desire  to  quiet  them,  but  not  to 
aggravate  them  and  drive  them  out"  (ich  will  sie 
beruhigen  aber  nicht  reizen  und  hinauswerfen.}'11 
His  feeling  in  this  matter  of  radical  reform  was  most 
clearly  brought  out  in  his  relations  with  the  Berlin 
Reform  Congregation  whose  radical  program  he 
could  not  endorse.  He  felt  that  this  congregation 
had  broken  in  a  measure  with  the  historic  spirit  of 
Judaism  and  produced  an  unnecessary  schism.  For 
this  reason  he  refused  twice  the  offer  to  become  the 
rabbi  of  this  congregation,  the  first  time  when  the 
congregation  was  organized  in  1845,  and  the  second 
time  after  the  death  of  Holdheim  in  1860.  His 
various  expressions  on  this  subject  of  a  schism  in 
Judaism  show  how  fine  was  his  understanding  of  the 
situation.  He  feared  not  the  cry  that  was  constantly 
raised  by  the  orthodox  party  that  reform  would 
create  a  schism.28  In  a  letter  to  Zunz  in  1841  he 
wrote  that  a  schism  was  the  only  means  of  salvation 
in  the  intolerable  condition  of  Judaism;29  to  save  the 
situation  schism  was  justifiable,  but  a  schism  may 
not  be  made  intentionally  as  was  done  by  the  Frank- 
for  reformers  when  they  organized  the  Society  of 
the  Friends  of  Reform;30  if  a  schism  is  the  result  of 


27  Ibid.,  V.  192. 

28  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.,  102,  103. 

29  Ibid.,  V.  155. 

30  Philipson  The  Reform  Movement  in  Judaism,  p.  147. 


114  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

sincere  and  conscientious  effort  for  the  salvation  of 
Judaism,  well  and  good;  Geiger  desired  to  accom- 
plish "the  reform  of  the  whole  community;"31  when 
the  Berlin  congregation  was  to  be  organized  he  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  it  would  not  cause  a  schism; 
schism  may  be  necessary  but  it  must  be  a  healthy 
schism32  and  not  a  radical  breaking  away  from  the 
regular  course  of  Jewish  development.  Since  he  con- 
sidered the  Berlin  movement  unjustifiably  schismatic 
he  felt  that  he  could  not  respond  to  the  call  to  become 
the  leader  of  that  congregation.  Radical  methods 
though  seemingly  effective  at  first  and  attractive  to 
many,  because  of  their  startling  and  sensational 
features,  did  not  appeal  to  Geiger  whose  point  of  view 
was  formed  by  a  fine  blending  of  appreciation  of  past 
achievement,  present  need  and  future  possibilities. 
As  he  advanced  in  life,  this  attitude  of  mind  became 
more  and  more  pronounced;  he  gave  expression  to 
it  in  a  hundred  and  one  ways;  let  one  of  these  ex- 
pressions, penned  in  1861,  he  cited  as  indicative  of 
his  unceasing  faith  in  the  doctrine  of  development  and 
in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  liberal  movement: 
"Let  natural  development  pursue  its  own  way;  I 
hurry  not;  every  day  enlarges  and  fortifies  my  posi- 
tion *  *  *  and  time  remains  after  all  a  mighty 
ally."33 

31  Nachgelassene  Schriften.  V.  169,  "Ich  predige  Reform  der 
Gesammtheit." 

32  Ibid.,  V.  178-9. 

33  Lassen  wir  der  natuerlichen  Bewegung  nur  ihre  eigene 
Entwickelung;  ich  eile  nicht;  ein  jeder  Tag  erweitert  und  befestigt 
mein   Terrain — die   Zeit   bleibt   doch   eine   maechtige   Bundes- 
genossin.      Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.  253. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  115 


These  were  the  leading  features  of  Geiger's  thought 
as  a  reformer.  His  course  of  action  in  the  stirring 
events  which  took  place  in  his  lifetime  and  in  which 
he  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  figures  furnishes 
an  illuminating  commentary  on  this  program.  His 
feeling  that  reforms  should  emanate  neither  from  an 
individual  rabbi  nor  an  individual  congregation  but 
should  be  the  concern  of  the  community  of  Israel  led 
him  to  call  the  conference  of  rabbis  at  Wiesbaden  in 
1837.  The  meager  success  of  this  initial  movement 
for  concerted  action  did  not  deter  him  from  further 
efforts  in  this  direction  and  when  Ludwig  Philippson 
issued  the  call  for  a  rabbinical  conference  for  the 
consideration  of  the  many  perplexing  problems  that 
were  vexing  the  Jews,  Abraham  Geiger  heartily  sup- 
ported the  call ;  in  the  three  great  conferences  held  at 
Brunswick,  Frankfort  on  the  Main  and  Breslau,  in 
the  years  1844,  1845  and  1846,  Geiger  took  a  very 
leading  part,  if  not  the  leading  part;34  the  purpose 
of  these  conferences  was  to  arrive  at  some  solution  of 
the  problems  raised  by  the  position  of  the  Jews  in  the 
modern  environment;  whatever  may  be  the  verdict 
of  the  success  or  failure  of  the  conferences  it  must 
always  be  conceded  that  they  were  a  conscientious 
and  sincere  effort  to  promote  the  spirit  of  union  and  to 
continue  the  line  of  historical  development  in  Judaism 
by  interpreting  the  traditions  in  the  light  of  present 
conditions.  The  conferences  rested  upon  the  thesis 
that  reform  is  the  latest  phase  in  the  development  of 
the  spirit  of  Judaism.  This  was  essentially  Geiger's 

34  Philipson   The   Reform    Movement  in   Judaism,    197-317 
passim. 


116  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

standpoint  and  therefore  the  convening  of  these  con- 
ferences apart  from  any  question  of  their  success  or 
failure  must  be  considered  a  practical  demonstration 
of  the  standpoint  which  Geiger  and  those  who  thought 
with  him  represented. 

The  feeling  that  the  liberal  movement  to  be  effective 
must  rest  upon  united  action  and  not  be  a  matter  of 
individual  whim  or  caprice  also  led  Geiger  early  in 
his  career  to  advocate  the  founding  of  a  seminary  for 
the  training  of  rabbis  for  modern  congregations. 
The  rabbinical  seminary  of  Breslau  founded  in  1854 
had  proved  a  keen  disappointment  to  Geiger  who 
was  rabbi  of  the  congregation  of  that  city.  He 
charged  the  siminary  with  failure  to  educate  rabbis 
to  grapple  with  the  modern  situation  in  Jewry;  he 
claimed  that  its  course  of  study  was  dominated  by 
the  spirit  of  pilpulism  and  that  no  provision  was  made 
whereby  the  students  would  receive  guidance  for 
effective  work  as  leaders  of  modern  congregations.35 
The  Breslau  seminary  represented  reaction  according 
to  Geiger's  view.  Therefore  he  advocated  constantlv 
the  foundation  of  a  rabbinical  school  whose  curriculum 
should  be  fashioned  along  progressive  lines.36  This 
wish  was  realized  when  the  Hochschule  tuer  die 
Wissenschaft  des  Judenthums  was  founded  in  Berlin 
in  1871.  Here  Geiger  taught  until  his  death.  Here 
he  reared  disciples  who  carried  into  the  spheres  of 
their  activity  the  ideas  which  he  taught.  The 
Hochschule,  like  the  conferences,  represented  con- 
structive work  of  a  high  order  and  both  were  regarded 

35  Juedische Zettschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft  undLeben,  I.  168-74. 

36  Ibid.     Was  thut  Noth?     III.  254. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  117 


by  Geigei  as  containing  the  highest  possibilities  for 
the  positive  achievements  of  the  reform  movement. 
The  reaction  against  the  liberal  movements  both 
in  government  and  in  religion  which  characterized  the 
earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  much  in 
evidence  particularly  in  Germany  and  Austria  in  the 
sixth  decade  of  the  last  century.  As  in  Christianity 
so  in  Judaism  this  was  the  case.  The  movement 
known  as  neo-orthodoxy  whose  chief  protagonist  was 
Samson  Raphael  Hirsch,  a  leader  of  unusual  power 
and  a  scholar  of  great  gifts  was  attracting  many  by 
its  appeal  to  the  romantic  views  then  much  in  vogue. 
Geiger,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  liberal  Judaism, 
broke  many  a  lance  in  his  contest  with  the  champions 
of  reactionism  and  romanticism.  His  trenchant 
essay  Alte  Romantik,  neue  Reaktion37  set  forth  in 
forcible  style  the  real  inwardness  of  the  contemporary 
reactionary  movements  in  Judaism  and  elsewhere 
which  movements  were  simply  modern  forms  of  an 
earlier  romanticism.  He  felt  that  this  reactionism 
could  be  met  most  effectively  by  gatherings  of  Jewish 
leaders  who  should  discuss  the  problems  that  were 
troubling  the  welfare  of  Israel.  In  that  same  article 
"What  is  Needed?"  in  which  he  had  urged  the 
necessity  of  founding  a  theological  seminary  he  had 
advocated  the  convening  of  "large  gatherings  for  the 
discussion  of  Jewish  questions."38  Many  rabbis  evi- 
dently were  in  sympathy  with  this  for  in  1868  the 
rabbinical  conference  of  Cassel  convened,  the  first 
gathering  of  Jewish  leaders  in  Germany  since  1846. 

37  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft  undLeben,  I.  245. 

38  Ibid.,  Ill  225;  see  also,  VI.,  169. 


118  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

This  conference  is  chiefly  significant  for  having  paved 
the  way  for  the  famous  synods  of  Leipzig  and  Augs- 
burg in  1869  and  1871,  the  first  assemblies  in  the 
history  of  modern  Judaism  in  which  rabbis  and 
laymen  came  together  for  deliberations  upon  religious 
problems.  Geiger  had  struck  the  keynote  for  the 
calling  of  such  assemblies  when  he  wrote  in  1865, 
"By  such  means  only  does  regenerated  interest 
as  well  as  mutual  understanding  and  enlightenment 
arise."  This  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter.  In 
such  assemblies,  general  practical  questions  which 
are  continually  cropping  up,  spring  forth  of  them- 
selves. They  can  not  be  prescribed  beforehand.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  insist  continually  upon  a  declaration 
of  a  practical  tangible  purpose  for  such  an  assembly 
when  the  practical  achievement  lies  in  the  very  con- 
vening of  such  a  large  body  which  is  susceptible  of 
every  sort  of  stimulation  and  is  ready  to  lend  its 
strength  to  every  movement  looking  toward  revival 
and  improvement  in  wider  and  narrower  circles. 
Finished  results  and  definite  aims  should  not  be 
presented  to  it  but  means  should  be  offered  to  bring 
about  a  more  correct  knowledge  of  Judaism  and  to 
effect  a  blending  of  the  religious  spirit  with  life  by 
which  means  the  adequate  result  will  be  accomplished 
in  every  instance.  Every  epoch  produces  its  problems 
which  affect  now  a  larger,  now  a  smaller  sphere  but 
which  are  not  solved  properly  because  general  interest 
and  the  vigor  of  combined  action  are  lacking.39  In 

39  Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer  Wissenschaft  und  Leben  III., 
254-55.  See  also  Views  on  the  Synod  (compiled  by  Committee  of 
Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis),  39,  Baltimore,  1905. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  119 


the  synods  Geiger  was  the  leading  rabbinical  figure. 
He  submitted  a  number  of  important  propositions. 
He  felt  that  the  pronouncement  of  such  representative 
assemblies  would  carry  much  weight  in  Jewish  com- 
munities even  though  they  had  not  ecclesiastical 
authority  to  coerce  the  acceptance  of  their  findings. 
Even  though  the  synods  did  not  accomplish  what 
Geiger  and  others  hoped  for  in  unravelling  the 
tangled  threads,  yet  were  they  an  earnest  endeavor  to 
meet  a  most  perplexing  situation  ;40  they  gave  evidence 
of  Geiger's  constructive  abilities  and  of  his  clear 
grasp  of  the  needs  of  his  generation. 

Much  of  the  practical  activity  of  the  reformers  was 
concerned  of  necessity  with  the  ritual.  In  the  ritual 
of  a  religion  the  principles  of  the  faith  receive  voice. 
The  prayer  book  is  the  expression  of  the  corporate 
religious  conscience.  Among  the  Jews  the  prayer 
book  represented  a  growth  of  many  centuries.  Many 
of  the  prayers  expressed  thoughts  and  hopes  which 
were  at  variance  with  the  religious  outlook  of  the 
Jew  in  the  modern  world.  Therefore  we  find  that 
almost  from  the  beginning  the  reformers  occupied 
themselves  with  making  such  changes  in  the  traditional 
prayers  and  the  whole  mode  of  conducting  the  ser- 
vices as  seemed  to  them  to  be  demanded  by  the 
changed  conditions,  thoughts,  beliefs  and  require- 
ments of  the  modern  Jew.  This  resulted  unfortunate- 
ly in  great  confusion  for  many  prayer  books  were 
produced  either  by  individual  rabbis  or  congregations. 
True,  there  had  been  from  time  out  of  mind  different 
orders  of  liturgy  among  Jews  that  had  found  expres- 
40  Philipson  The  Reform  Movement  in  Judaism,  398-460. 


120  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

sion  in  the  divergencies  of  the  so-called  Ashkenazic 
and  Sephardic  rites;  but  this  line  of  cleavage  did  not 
impair  the  authority  of  either  ritual  among  its  own 
followers;  further,  the  differences  between  the  two 
rites  were  concerned  not  as  much  with  beliefs  as  with 
expressions  and  customs.  Thus  there  were  practi- 
cally two  liturgies  but  within  its  own  sphere  each 
had  unquestioned  allegiance.  With  the  arising  of 
the  liberal  movement  this  body  of  liturgical  authority 
was  broken  up.  The  prophet  of  old  had  complained 
that  as  many  cities  as  there  were  in  Israel,  so  many 
altars  were  there.  Thus  also  it  might  have  been  said 
in  the  .early  years  of  the  reform  movement,  when 
many  prayer  books  were  produced.  This  was  one  of 
the  necessary  accompaniments  perhaps  of  the  new 
movement.  As  soon  as  the  necessity  of  change  is 
recognized  and  acknowledged,  the  individual  views 
of  what  changes  shall  be  made  seek  expression.  After 
a  time  there  is  a  sifting  of  these  views  and  the  refor- 
mers too  are  found  to  have  a  common  ground.  This 
consensus  of  religious  opinion  and  expression  among 
reformers  produced  after  many  years  the  Union 
Prayer  Book  which  has  been  accepted  by  the  reform 
congregations  of  the  United  States  with  few  exceptions 
as  the  ritual  embodying  their  religious  beliefs  and 
aspirations. 

Much  of  Geiger's  religious  activity  was  concerned 
with  these  questions  of  the  liturgy.  One  of  his  early 
studies  was  a  comprehensive  review  and  criticism  of 
the  Hamburg  Temple  Prayer  Book;41  in  the  great 

41  Der    Hamburger  Templestreit,  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  I., 
113-196. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  121 

debates  on  the  liturgy  which  were  the  chief  feature  of 
the  Frankfort  rabbinical  conference,  he  took  a  leading 
part;  in  his  own  congregation  at  Breslau  he  began 
making  reforms  in  the  ritual  in  1844;  he  himself 
was  not  eager  to  produce  a  new  prayer  book;  as 
long  as  changes  in  the  ritual  were  in  the  making, 
he  did  not  feel  that  they  should  be  fixed  in  printed 
form;  while  the  changes  were  fluid,  there  might  be 
inconsistencies  here  and  there  which  would  not  arouse 
comment  for,  after  all,  the  expression  that  religious 
feeling  and  sentiment  took  was  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  rules  of  consistency ;  but  as  soon  as  these  changes 
were  fixed  in  a  printed  book  the  inconsistencies  would 
be  glaring.42  Still  the  board  of  directors  of  the  con- 
gregation was  insistent  upon  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  a  prayer  book  that  should  meet  the 
religious  requirements  of  the  congregation.  Geiger 
thereupon  prepared  a  plan  for  a  new  prayer  book43  and 
after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  the  book  which  embodied 
the  principles  here  stated  appeared.44  A  careful 
examination  of  this  book  reveals  many  inconsistencies, 
just  as  Geiger  had  feared;  these  he  removed  in  great 
part  in  the  second  edition  of  the  prayer  book  published 
sixteen  years  later.  This  second  prayer  book  was 
planned  and  executed  alonp  the  lines  of  the  suggestions 
which  he  submitted  to  the  Leipzig  Synod45  and  the 

42  Introduction  fo  Prayer  Book  VI.,  Breslau,  1845. 

43  Grundlage  und  Plan  zu  einen    neuen  Gebetbuche,  Breslau, 
1849. 

4i  1OV3  DV  in  n$ttl  "HO  Israelitsches  Gebetbuch  fuer 
den  oeffentlichen  Gottesdienst  im  ganzen  Jahre.  Breslau  1854. 

45  Thesen  fuer  die  Leipziger  Versammlung,  Zeitschrift  fuer 
Wissenschaft  und  Leben,  VII.,  p.  161. 


122  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


elaborate  plan  for  a  new  prayer  book  which  he  drew 
up  shortly  thereafter.46  At  this  time  Geiger  was  rabbi 
in  Frankfort  on  the  Main.  His  successor  at  Breslau, 
Dr.  M.  Joel,  known  for  his  fine  studies  in  Jewish 
philosophy,  had  published  early  in  1867  an  essay  in 
defense  of  the  traditional  prayer  book;  he  argued  for 
the  retention  of  all  the  traditional  prayers  even 
those  that  petitioned  for  a  restoration  of  the  sacrifices, 
for  the  coming  of  the  personal  Messiah,  and  for  the 
bodily  resurrection.47  Joel  was  an  adherent  of  the 
position  taken  by  the  Breslau  theological  seminary 
which  demanded  absolute  conformity  to  the  rab- 
binical tradition  in  practice  while  permitting  latitude 
of  thought.  Thus  although  the  restoration  of  the 
sacrifices  might  not  be  desired  nor  believed  in,  still 
the  petition  for  such  restoration  must  be  retained  in 
the  liturgy,  because  the  traditional  prayer  book  must 
not  be  tampered  with.  Geiger,  to  whom  this  attitude 
was  intolerable  and  who  frequently  castigated  the 
Breslau  school  with  all  the  scorn  at  his  command, 
answered  Joel's  brochure  in  a  lengthy  criticism.48 
Joel's  moving  thought  was  the  integrity  of  catholic 
Israel;  this  must  be  maintained  even  at  the  expense 
of  individual  conviction  and  intellectual  honesty; 
such  was  also  the  position  of  Zacharias  Frankel; 
Geiger  on  the  other  hand,  championed  the  necessity 
of  progressive  thought  and  of  loyalty  to  truth  above 
all  other  considerations. 

48P/aw  zu  einen  neuenGebetbuche,  Ibid.,  241-280. 

47  Zur  Orientirung  in  der  Cultusjrage  1867. 

48  Etwas  ueber  Glauben  und  Beten.  Zu  Schutz  und   Trutz. 
J.  Z.  W.  L.  VII.,  1-59. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  123 

Enough  has  been  written  to  make  clear  Geiger's 
general  principles  as  a  religious  reformer.  It  remains 
to  take  up  the  special  articles  of  his  practical  program 
which  gave  point  to  the  theories  which  he  held. 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  SERVICE.  At  the  Frankfort 
rabbinical  conference  in  1845  where  the  question  of 
changes  in  the  liturgy  was  discussed  for  the  first  time 
in  a  public  assembly,  Geiger  declared  unequivocally 
that  there  was  no  prohibition  anywhere  against  using 
languages  besides  the  Hebrew  in  prayer.  He  stated 
that  the  ancient  authorities  permitted  prayer  to  be 
spoken  in  any  language.  As  for  himself  he  deemed 
it  desirable  that  the  service  should  be  conducted  in 
the  vernacular  because  "all  our  deepest  feelings  and 
sentiments,  all  our  highest  thoughts  receive  expression 
through  it."  Hebrew,  he  went  on  to  say,  is  no  longer 
a  living  tongue;  it  is  painfully  apparent  how  listless 
and  inattentive  congregations  are,  for  example,  while 
the  section  from  the  Torah  is  being  read.  In  answer 
to  the  claim  which  had  been  advanced  that  the  very 
foundations  of  Judaism  would  be  shattered  were 
Hebrew  to  be  eliminated  from  the  service  he  wished 
to  say  that  he  considered  Judaism  to  be  in  a  perilous 
state  indeed  if  it  required  a  language  as  a  prop  to 
sustain  it.  If  they  were  to  agree  that  the  Hebrew 
language  is  an  absolute  essential,  this  would  be  tanta- 
mount to  declaring  Judaism  to  be  a  national  religion 
since  a  peculiar  language  is  the  sign  patent  of  nation- 
ality; and  it  was  certain  that  none  of  the  rabbis  in  the 
assembly  would  agree  that  Judaism  is  dependent  upon 
the  existence  of  a  separate  nationality. 

However  when  the  practical  issue  presented  itself 


124  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

to  him  of  preparing  a  new  prayer  book  he  found  that 
the  question  was  not  to  be  solved  by  theoretical  con- 
siderations only;  memories  and  sentiments  of  a  great 
past  had  to  be  considered  as  well  as  the  views  and 
needs  of  the  present.  In  the  introduction  to  the 
prayer  book  which  he  issued  in  1854  he  wrote:  "The 
significance  of  the  prayers  consists  not  alone  in  their 
content  but  also  in  their  traditional  forms,  in  the 
verbiage  in  which  they  have  been  bequeathed  to  us, 
hence,  also  in  the  Hebrew  language.  This  must  re- 
main therefore  with  few  exceptions  the  language  of 
prayer."  The  exceptions  were  the  prayers  inserted 
during  the  service  and  spoken  by  the  rabbi,  such  as 
the  prayer  for  the  government,  special  prayers  for  the 
sick,  for  a  newly  born  child,  etc.;  such  prayers  were 
to  be  uttered  in  German.  A  German  translation  ac- 
companied the  Hebrew  prayers.  This  translation 
was  not  a  literal  version  but  rather  a  paraphrase  which 
reflected  the  contents  of  the  original. 

In  1860,  Geiger  issued  a  pamphlet  in  which  he  dis- 
cussed anew  the  question  of  the  reform  of  the  liturgy.49 
The  views  here  expressed  were  much  the  same  as  had 
found  expression  in  the  preface  to  the  prayer  book. 
Although  the  Hebrew  prayers  no  longer  aroused 
devotion  because  of  the  unfamiliarity  of  the  worship- 
pers with  the  language,  although  too,  there  could  be 
no  doubt  that  prayers  in  the  vernacular  would  do 
this  to  a  much  greater  degree,  still  because  of  the 
great  significance  of  the  Hebrew  language  in  the 
development  of  Judaism  it  must  retain  for  the  present 

49  Nolhwendigkeit  und  Maass  einer  Reform  des  juedischen 
Gottesdientes.     Republished  in  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  I.,  203. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  125 

at  least  a  large  place  in  the  public  service.  "A  wise 
compromise  must  be  arrived  at  in  this  matter,"  he 
wrote,  "it  is  possible,  yes,  it  is  altogether  likely,  that 
a  not  distant  future  will  demand  and  grant  the 
changes  more  readily;  at  this  time  both  the  present 
need  and  pious  recollection  must  be  satisfied." 
Therefore  he  suggested  the  following  as  a  working 
plan :  The  prayers  for  silent  devotion  as  well  as  those 
for  special  occasions  spoken  by  the  rabbi  were  to  be 
in  the  vernacular.  The  other  prayers  must  be  judi- 
ciously divided  between  the  two  languages.  But  a 
certain  harmony  must  be  preserved;  there  must  not 
be  an  indiscriminate  mixing  of  Hebrew  and  German 
prayers.  The  German  element  of  the  service  should 
be  grouped  about  the  sermon.  The  order  of  service 
would  thus  be:  a  short  Hebrew  Schacharil  service, 
dotted  at  intervals  with  prayers  for  silent  devotion  in 
German;  the  reading  from  the  Torah  in  Hebrew;  a 
selection  from  the  prophets  in  German;  German 
prayers  for  the  congregation,  the  government  and 
special  occasions;  the  sermon;  a  German  song  and  a 
German  prayer;  the  abbreviated  Mussaf  service  in 
Hebrew,  with  a  German  prayer  for  silent  devotion  to 
close  the  service  for  Sabbath  and  Holidays.  Geiger  says 
further :  '  'This  question  of  language  is  the  most  difficult 
point  in  the  new  arrangement  of  the  public  service;  it 
is  quite  possible  that  no  suggestions  will  give  entire 
satisfaction  to  all  parties.  Here  if  anywhere  the 
demand  is  justified  that  each  and  everyone  sacrifice 
something  of  his  own  desires  for  the  gx>od  of  the  whole. 
May  the  one  party  consider  that  it  is  their  duty  to 
co-operate  towards  the  end  that  the  house  of  wroship 


126  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

become  not  altogether  closed  to  the  young,  and  the 
other  party  see  to  it  that  they  drive  not  the  older 
generation  out  of  the  house  of  God."50 

In  1868,  in  an  article- entitled  "Unser  Gottesdienst,51 
he  reverts  to  the  subject  of  the  language  of  the 
service;  while  the  exigencies  of  the  present  demand  the 
greater  portion  of  the  service  to  be  in  Hebrew,  yet  he 
felt  that  this  would  change  in  the  near  future  when 
the  greater  portion  of  the  service  must  be  in  the 
vernacular.82  Future  generations  in  all  likelihood 
would  become  less  and  less  familiar  with  the  Hebrew 
and  the  service  would  have  to  be  accommodated  to 
this  condition.53  However  for  the  present,  conditions 
were  such  as  required  the  retention  of  the  Hebrew. 
His  last  utterance  which  we  have  on  this  subject  is 
contained  in  his  plan  for  a  new  prayer  book  which  he 
drew  up  for  presentation  to  the  Synod  which  met  in 
Leipzig  in  1869.54  In  this  plan  he  laid  down  a  number 
of  guiding  principles.  The  first  and  second  of  these 
touched  the  subject  of  the  language  of  the  service. 
Here  he  says  essentially  what  he  had  said  fifteen 
years  previously  in  his  preface  to  his  first  prayer  book . 
The  greater  portion  of  the  service  was  to  be  conducted 
in  Hebrew;  however,  there  were  to  be  a  number  of 
prayers  and  meditations  in  German.  There  was  also 

50  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  I.,  210-215. 

51  W.  Z.  J.  L.  VI.,  1-21. 

62Die  Geschichte  hat  das  Urtheil  gesprochen  wenn  es  such 
noch  nicht  vollzogen  ist.  Unser  Gottesdienst  muss  und  wird 
in  naher  Zukunft  seine  sprachliche  Neugeburt  feiern.  Ibid.,  7. 

53  Gottesdienstliche  Feier  ist  der  Menschen  wegen  und  nicht 
der  Mensch  nach  ihr  einzurichten.     Ibid. 

54  Plan  zu  einen  neuen  Gebetbuche  J.  Z.  W.  L.  VII.,  241-280. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  127 

to  be  a  free  German  translation  which  should  attempt 
to  reproduce  the  spirit  of  the  original  rather  than  aim 
to  be  an  exact  and  literal  reproduction  of  the  Hebrew 
words. 

These  suggestions  were  embodied  in  his  second 
prayer  book  published  in  1870. 

We  have  here  an  exemplification  of  Geiger's  attitude 
of  mind.  Although  fully  convinced  that  the  ver- 
nacular should  displace  the  Hebrew  almost  entirely 
as  the  language  of  prayer,  still  he  felt  that  such  a  pro- 
ceeding in  his  age  and  generation  would  be  so  revolu- 
tionary as  to  detach  the  congregation  which  would 
adopt  it  from  the  main  body  of  the  synagogue. 

This  is  what  actually  happened  to  the  Berlin  reform 
congregation  under  Holdheim's  leadership.  Hold- 
heim  carried  out  his  theories  to  their  logical  end  no 
matter  what  the  cost.  He  had  not  the  historical 
sense  nor  the  consciousness  of  the  solidarity  of  Israel 
that  Geiger  had.  Geiger  felt  that  reform  must  move 
slowly,  hence  frequently  his  practice  lagged  far 
behind  his  theory;  he  desired  constructive  reform, 
which  should  permeate  all  Jewry;  his  aim  was  to  retain 
as  far  as  possible  the  connection  with  the  whole  house 
of  Israel  and  therefore  he  was  content  to  sacrifice 
theory  for  the  time,  assured  that  in  the  progress  of  the 
years  his  theory  would  be  translated  into  practice. 
He  looked  far  ahead  and  for  this  reason  was  content 
even  though  in  his  own  day  practice  did  not  keep 
pace  with  his  religious  thought. 

THE  CONTENTS  OF  THE  PRAYER  BOOK.  In  Geiger's 
opinion  the  contents  of  the  traditional  prayer  book 
required  elimination,  change  or  recasting  as  the  case 


128  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

might  be.  He  contended  that  the  service  was  too 
long  and  wearied  the  worshippers ;  therefore  it  must  be 
abbreviated;  all  unnecessary  repetitions  and  un- 
essential and  unmeaning  portions  must  be  eliminated. 
He  urged  that  the  more  crude  religious  conceptions 
of  an  earlier  day  as  embodied  in  a  number  of  prayers 
must  give  way  to  the  less  crude  conceptions  of  a  later 
age.  In  this  category  might  be  named: 

(a)  Anthropomorphic  designations   of   the   Diety, 
•  frequent    in    the  piyyutim -^   these   should   be 

eliminated. 

(b)  The    enumeration    of   the    various    classes   of 
angels  and   the  description  of  their  activity; 
this  too  should  be  removed  from  the  prayers.56 

(c)  The  belief  in  immortality  must  find  expression 
not  alone  in  the  doctrine  of  the  bodily  resur- 
rection,   but    also    in   that    of    spiritual    im- 
mortality. 

But  chiefly  must  the  world  mission  of  Israel  be 
emphasized  in  the  liturgy;  therefore  the  nationalistic 
conception  of  Israel  so  prominent  in  the  traditional 
prayers  must  give  way  to  the  universalistic.  The 
separation  between  Israel  and  the  other  peoples  should 

55  Liturgical  poems. 

56  cf  also  preface  to  (ieiger's  second  prayer  book.     Berlin 
1870.     In  the  1854  edition  of  the  prayer  book  Geiger  retained 
the  traditional  angelology.     In  the  second  prayer  book  we  note 
changes  in  accordance  with  his  growing  thought.     Thus  in  the 
Schacharit  Kedushah  he    substitutes    the    word  "IOXJ1  for    the 

phrase    D'SDP CHpH  nV.TI  D^SKm       ;     so     also     in     the 

Schacharit  Shemoneh  Esrch,  the  second  prayer  book  omits  the 
phrase    D111D  ^DtJO  iniK  D^HpOt?  DEO     and    substitutes   the 
word  "lOWl  for  riDN'  -|VO 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  129 

find  no  expression  in  the  prayers  but  rather  the  hope 
that  such  barriers  gradually  disappear.  So  also  all 
prayers  for  the  restitution  of  the  Jewish  state  in 
Palestine,  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  in  Jerusalem, 
the  re-institution  of  the  sacrificial  service  and  the  re- 
gathering  of  all  the  dispersed  of  Israel  and  their 
return  to  Palestine  must  be  eliminated  for  they  are 
not  expressive  of  our  thought.57  To  utter  such 
petitions  would  be  to  utter  untruths.  For  them  the 
prayer  for  the  coming  of  the  time  when  the  brother- 
hood of  man  will  be  achieved  should  be  substituted.58 
With  the  passing  of  time  Geiger  became  more  and 
more  convinced  that  the  chief  point  of  difference 
between  the  traditional  and  the  liberal  school  lay  in 

57  Thus  in  the  fifteenth  benediction  of  the  Shemoneh  Esreh 
he  omits  the  words  1JV3  Vai^  miajtfl  MN  3BTTI  At  the  close  of 
the  18  benedictions  he  omits  the  entire  petition  i"IJTK>.  .  .  -flX")  W 
EHpOn  JVa.  In  the  Mussaf  for  the  three  high  feasts  he 
omits  the  petition  HIM  ^IJfll  mn»  injaJT)  so  also  in  the 
benediction  WflUK  Tl^NI  im^N  ;  in.  the  same  Mussaf  he 
omits  the  petition  for  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
restoration  of  Israel  to  Palestine.  True  he  was  not  entirely 
consistent  in  this  matter  in  his  1854  edition  of  the  prayer  book 
for  here  and  there  some  expressions  of  this  character  were  re- 
tained ;  these  he  removed  entirely  in  the  second  prayer  book  where 
for  the  traditional  petition  for  the  return,  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple,  etc.,  in  the  Mussaf  prayer  for  the  holy  days,  he  substitutes 
the  following  universalistic  petition:  DJ?H  73?  rpSD  JV3  "|JV31 

irnQK>nenK  :vi  »  *rj£  ir6y  iniato  1133  rta  waina  ira«  top1 
onwian  (ovai  nrn  naert)  ova  NJ  nan  we  nanai  p*"^  ^pn 

irnna  irSy  nanac?  nrn 

88  Plan  zu  einen  Neuen  Gebetbuche,  J.  Z.  W.  L.  VII.,  245-7. 


130  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  interpretation  of  Israel's  mission.  He  was  a 
prophet  of  universalistic  Judaism;  the  nationalistic 
interpretation  of  Judaism's  future  seemed  to  him  to 
misread  altogether  the  purpose  of  God  in  His  pre- 
servation of  the  Jewish  people.  Hence  he  changed  or 
omitted  all  expressions  in  the  traditional  prayer  book 
which  reflected  the  nationalistic  view.59  In  accord- 
ance with  this  interpretation  of  Israel's  work  in  the 
world  the  traditional  explanation  of  the  dispersion 
also  underwent  a  change  in  his  thought.  Far  from 
looking  upon  the  dispersion  as  a  misfortune  or  a  curse, 
and  the  present  state  of  the  Jews  a  state  of  exile  he 
considered  the  loss  of  Palestine  and  the  consequent 
dispersion  as  a  blessing,  a  part  of  God's  plan  for  the 
larger  work  of  Israel.60  Therefore  his  conception  of 
Tisha  b'ab,  the  anniversary  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  assumed  a  form  different  from  the  tradi- 
tional view.  The  prayer  which  he  wrote  for  the 


59  Thus  he  either   omits    such    petitions    as 

JQ"lND   or  .changes    them     to     express     the    uni- 
versalistic view;  e.  g.,   for  the  traditional  benediction   DJ  NC^l 
he  substitutes  ^KW  mKK>  J1K  "py  DK 

"  my  nnNE>  jreno  "  nnx  -jra  :p«n  niaj 

•"Thus  he  omits  the  petition  l^nt?  pK3  IJ^y  "  HD1H 
in  which  the  land  of  Israel's  present  sojourn  is  designated  a  land 
of  captivity;  so  also  he  omits  the  fl¥"l  TV  in  the  traditional 
prayer  book  which  was  spoken  before  the  Torah  was  returned  to 
the  Ark,  because  this  petition  contains  supplications  for  deliver- 
ance from  present  exile,  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  etc. 
Cf.  German  paraphrase  of  benedictions  VII-XV  of  the  Shemcneh 
Esreh  in  his  prayer  book;  also  his  German  substitute  for  the  long 
penitential  Dim 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER 


morning  service  of  that  day  interprets  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  tragical  experience  of  Israel  in  the 
world  since  then  in  the  light  of  the  universal  mission.61 

In  his  interpretation  of  Israel's  place  in  the  \vorld 
he  substituted  the  universalistic  conception  for 
the  traditional  nationalistic;  he  claimed  that  Israel 
lives  no  longer  as  a  nation  in  the  hearts  and  wishes  of 
the  present  generation;  it  is  regarded  as  a  religious 
community  (Glaubensgemeinde),  the  prayers  must 
therefore  be  changed  accordingly  and  the  expression 
of  the  universal  mission  throughout  the  world  must 
find  place  in  the  prayers  in  lieu  of  the  nationalism 
and  palestinianism  of  the  traditional  prayer  book.62 

What  then  of  the  belief  that  Israel  was  chosen  by 
God  for  its  particular  work  in  the  world?  Geiger 
fully  believed  that  Israel  was  set  apart  for  a  special 
purpose  but  he  contended  that  all  such  chauvinistic 
prayers  and  expressions  as  exalted  Israel  at  the  ex- 
pense of  other  peoples  must  be  changed  or  eliminated.63 
The  boastful  notion  that  merely  because  God  has 

61  The  fire  which  destroyed  Jerusalem  was  to  be  also  a  fire 
of  purification  for  Israel  and  humanity.     Israel  was  to  examine 
into  its  way  and  remove  all  the  dross  and  illuminate  mankind 
with  the  light  of  its  teaching.     Our  fathers  have  had  to  endure 
much;  yes,  our  time  of  suffering  is  not  yet  past;  but  Thy  name  is 
being  acknowledged  more  and  more  among  men  and  Israel  is 
being     gradually    recognized."     (israelitisches    Gebetbuch,    von 
Abraham  Geiger,  45.) 

62  Gesammelte  Schrifien,  I.,  207. 

63  Thus  in  the  minn  n3"!3  he  omits  the  words    DT>J?n  ^JD 
after  "IfO    ;    in    the    prayer  }V¥P  N21    he    omits    the    phrase 
D'ynn  }»  l^-Qni  ;  in  IJ^V  he  substitutes    the  words 

in-nn  u^rum  inna  ns  onx  rroi  wn  rm  Djmni  i 

for  the  words  in  the  traditional  prayer    book    V1JD 


132  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


chosen  Israel,  this  people  was  therefore  better  than 
other  peoples  was  irreligious;  quite  contrariwise 
must  this  conception  be  interpreted;  because  God 
had  chosen  Israel,  therefore  the  obligation  lay  upon 
this  people  to  attempt  to  become  more  and  more 
worthy  of  this  distinction  by  exemplary  conduct.64 
The  choice  entailed  responsibility  not  privilege.  In  a 
line  with  his  conception  of  the  universalistic  character 
of  Israel's  mission  and  his  substitution  of  the  world 
in  place  of  Palestine  as  the  sphere  of  Israel's  work 
was  his  interpretation  of  the  Messianic  doctrine. 
We  note  that  ^ith  the  passing  of  the  years  he  re- 
pudiated the  traditional  belief  in  the  coming  of  a 
personal  Messiah  who  was  to  gather  the  people  of 
Israel  from  all  parts  of  the  earth  whereunto  they  had 
been  dispersed  and  lead  them  back  to  Palestine;  for 
this  conception  he  substituted  the  doctrine  of  the 


Dn3  up^n  DK»  vbv  noiNn  ninstroa  uoe>  vb)  rmnxn 

n  733  In  the  Kiddush  for  Sabbath  eve  he  omits  the 
words  O'Oyn  $>3!D  after  JIBnp  UniKl  In  the  prayer  mi  rQPIK 
he  omits  the  words  fl&^l  DJ?  i>3»  after  mm  mi  In  the  fourth 
benediction  he  omits  the  phrase  mn«n  "1:6  im$>K  «  inn:  vf?\ 
1J35T1  K^  WnU»3  DJ1  D^DB  H3iy$>  UD^O  in^JH  X^l  In  the 
Mussaf  prayer  for  KHPI  K'X"!  Geiger  omits  the  words  ?3D 
niOXH  after  niH3  ^KIC'"1  ~\Qyi  '3  In  the  Habdalah  service 
he  omits  the  phrase  D'Dyi?  b^~\^  P3  In  the  prayer  nilN 
Umn3  in  the  evening  service  for  the  three  high  feasts  he  omits 
the.  words  D'Dyn  ^33O  and  niJl^H  !?3O  UnDDIl;  so  also  in  the 
similar  prayer  on  Rosh  Hashanah  and  Yom  Hakippurum. 

"Gesammelte  Schriften  I.  208;  see  also  J.  Z.  W  L.  VI., 
19;  VII.,  164. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  133 


coming  of  the  Messianic  Age,  the  realization  on  earth 
of  the  ideals  cf  universal  peace  and  good  will.66 

Thus  was  Geiger  a  true  preacher  of  universalistic 
Judaism;  none  appreciated  more  thoroughly  than  did 
he  the  significance  of  Israel's  wonderful  preservation ; 
none  sympathized  more  completely  than  did  he  with 
all  the  harrowing  experiences  of  Israel  among  the 
nations  of  the  world.  And  because  of  these  things 
he  could  delve  more  deeply  than  most  men  into  the 
meaning  of  it  all;  his  was  a  philosphy  of  history  which 
recognizing  God  in  all  and  above  all,  fitted  Israel 
into  its  place  in  the  general  scheme  of  humanity's 
life.  And  this  place  he  found  to  be  among  men  every - 


66  A  comparison  of  the  second  edition  of  Geiger's  prayer 
book  with  the  first  reveals  some  interesting  facts  in  this  matter. 
In  the  first  edition  he  was  not  entirely  consistent;  he  retained 
some  prayers  for  the  coming  of  the  personal  Messiah;  these  he 
either  eliminated  or  changed  in  the  second  edition  of  the  prayer 
book.  Thus  in  the  first  benediction  of  the  Shemoneh  Esreh  he 
retained  the  words  7K13  fcfSIDI  in  his  first  prayer  book;  in  the 
second  he  changed  this  to  the  phrase  HplfcW  N'3D1  ;  in  his 
first  prayer  book  he  retained  the  petition  for  the  coming  of  the 
personal  Messiah  "in  TO¥  J"IK  ;  this  is  omitted  in  the  second 
prayer  book;  it  is  noticeable,  however,  that,  in  the  German 
rendering  of  the  prayer  in  the  first  prayer  book  there  is  no 
mention  whatsoever  of  the  personal  Messiah,  and  the  entire 
petition  for  Israel's  restoration  is  given  a  universalistic  coloring. 
Similarly  in  the  words  inserted  on  the  holidays  in  the  benediction 
!"IX~I  we  find  that  in  the  first  prayer  book  Geiger  retained  the 
phrase  TH  p  IVK>O  P"GT1  but  omitted  it  in  the  second 
prayer  book.  In  the  first  prayer  book  he  retained  the  references 
to  the  Messiah  in  the  petition  )H  p31  on  Rosh  Hashanah 

and   Yom  Hakippurum;  be  changed  these  in  the  second  prayer 
book. 


134  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

where.66  Only  by  serving  in  all  the  earth  would  Israel 
fulfill  its  divinely  appointed  mission  and  point  the 
way  to  the  coming  of  the  day  when  the  knowledge 
of  God  would  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover 

the  sea 

Geiger's  liberal  religious  ideas  touched  and  trans- 
formed not  only  the  liturgy  but  colored  his  interpre- 
tation of  all  the  customs,  ceremonies  and  traditions 
of  the  Jewish  people.  A  brief  consideration  of  the 
more  important  and  significant  of  these  will  form  a 
fitting  close  to  this  paper. 

CEREMONIES  :     On  the  subject  of  the  observance  of 
ceremonies  in  general  Geiger  was  in  no  wise  radical. 
He  believed  in  the  necessity  of  ceremonies  to  express 
the  spirit  of  religion  but  he  insisted  that  such  cere- 
monies must  be  vitally  significant  and  not  mere  sur- 
vivals from  a  dead  past.     Ceremonies  which  were 
mere  forms  and  no  longer  strengthened  the  religious 
sentiment  or  ceremonies  which  represented  outgrown 
religious  ideas,  must  be  abandoned  and  replaced  by 
other  ceremonies  which  expressed  the  latter  day  re- 
ligious consciousness.     In  a  striking  essay,  published 
in  1839  on    the  subject   "Der  Formglaube  in  Seinem 
Unwerthe  und  in  seinen  Folgen"67  he  set  forth  clearly 
his  ideas  on  the  subject.     In  this  essay  he  wrote  as 
follows:     "Judaism  looks  upon  religious  ceremonies 

66  May  it  (Israel)  recognize  its  high  mission  among  men,  to 
carry  Thy  name  as  a  holy  banner  throughout  the  ages,  to  pro- 
claim Thy  unity,  to  prepare  the  true  kingdom  of  God.     (Prayer 
Book,  41,  Breslau,  1854). 

67  Wissenschaftliche  Zeitschrift  fuer  juedische  Theologte,  IV., 
1-12;  See  also  his  comprehensive  review  of  Brueck's  Rabbinische 
Ceremonialgebraeuche.     Ibid.,  III.,  413-26. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  135 

as  the  means  for  strengthening  our  religio-ethical 
sentiments.  These  ceremonies  serve  as  reminiscences 
of  past  events  whereby  we  think  of  God's  paternal 
and  wise  overruling  Providence  or  are  humbled;  they 
serve  also  to  strengthen  our  good  intentions  or  to 
preserve  or  regain  our  spiritual  purity.  Their  validity 
therefore  continues  only  so  long  as  they  have  this 
living  power;  this  is  possible  only  if  they  meet  local 
conditions  and  conform  to  the  stage  of  contemporary 
culture.  When,  however,  ceremonies  no  longer  possess 
the  power  to  fulfill  this  purpose  and  are  still  retained, 
yes,  when  they  are  observed  for  their  own  sake  and 
are  no  longer  looked  upon  simply  as  means  for  the 
expression  of  the  religious  spirit,  then  they  become 
entirely  worthless;  under  such  conditions  we  find 
that  bare  formalism  has  taken  the  place  of  free 
moral  activity  and  the  reign  of  superstition  has  been 
inaugurated."  In  other  words,  Geiger  did  not  object 
to  ceremonies  in  religion  but  to  ceremonialism,  the 
perfunctory  observance  of  ceremonies  which  had 
ceased  to  have  any  meaning  for  his  generation.  Thus 
in  a  letter  to  Zunz  who  had  published  an  ingenuous 
argument  for  the  retention  of  the  ceremony  of  the 
laying  of  the  phylacteries  Geiger  expressed  his 
surprise  at  Zunz's  casuistical  attempt.  Geiger  asked 
pointedly  whether  Zunz  really  believed  that  the 
ceremony  of  laying  the  tefrllin  which  had  its  origin 
in  the  superstitious  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  amulets, 
could  be  fruitful  of  spiritual  good  for  a  generation 
to  whose  cultural  and  aesthetic  point  of  view  this 
was  entirely  foreign.  True,  every  ceremony  can  be 
given  a  deeper  significance.  That  at  some  time  or 


136  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

other  every  ceremony  had  a  living  significance  is  also 
true;  but  the  dead  remains  dead,  the  spirit  which 
was    in    it   aforetime   continues    in    another    manner 
and  works  in  other  forms;  but  the  effort  to  resurrect 
the  dead  is  vain  and  even  were  it  successful  it  would 
only  produce  results  which  would  kill  all  spiritual 
and  moral  life.68   Geiger  had  many  a  controversy  with 
Zunz  in  this  field.     Zunz  who  had  begun  as  a  re- 
former became  as  years  passed  a  defender  of  the 
traditional  status  quo;  all  the  traditional  ceremonies 
found  in  him  an  ardent  and  a  learned  defender;  Juda- 
ism for  him  was  simply  a  traditional  system  of  forms 
and  ceremonies  without  any   spiritual   message   for 
the  present;  he  held  that  the  past  is  of  value  because 
it  is  past,  the  old  because  it  is  old.     With  all  his 
vast  learning  Zunz  could  not  appreciate  nor  under- 
stand   the    currents    of    living    religious    endeavor; 
Geiger's  point  of  view  was  antipodal  to  Zunz's  and 
in  the  attitude  of  these  two  men  towards  the  cere- 
monial legislation  we  have  the  sharply  defined  con- 
trast between  the  position  of  the  religious  reformer 
and  the  unprogressive  traditionalist.     A  phrase  that 
Geiger  used  in  another  letter  to  Zunz  may  be  cited 
as  particularly  expressive  of  this  antagonism:     "The 
old  is  not  always  living  and  belongs  rather  in   an 
archaeological  museum  than  in  a  nursery."6 

THE  SABBATH.  One  of  the  most  vexing  problems 
of  modern  Jewish  life  is  that  of  Sabbath  observance. 
Owing  to  economic  conditions  the  Jews  in  the  modern 
world  find  it  very  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  observe 

68  NachgelasseneSchriften,V.,  181. 

69  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  V.,  185. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  137 

the  seventh  day  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  and  con- 
secration. How  to  meet  this  perplexing  situation  has 
been  the  subject  of  earnest  thought  and  effort  of 
Jewish  leaders  from  the  time  that  it  became  acute. 
At  the  Brunswick  rabbinical  conference  in  1844 
the  subject  was  brought  up  towards  the  close  of  the 
sessions;  a  committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  the 
question  "Whether  there  were  any  means  and  if  so, 
what,  to  reconcile  Jewish  doctrines  with  the  demands 
of  modern  life  in  reference  to  the  Sabbath."  Geiger 
was  a  member  of  this  committee.  The  report  of  the 
Committee  was  not  acted  upon  until  the  Breslau 
Conference  in  1846.  Before  this  Conference  met 
Geiger  published  a  preliminary  notice  in  which  he 
set  forth  the  work  the  conference  would  have  to  do.70 
He  wrote  concerning  the  Sabbath  question  as  follows : 
"This  question  must  be  decided  if  Judaism  is  to  exist 
on  as  a  lasting  influence  and  it  will  be  decided  if  it  is 
kept  constantly  on  the  tapis ;  it  must  be  decided  some 
one  way  or  another  by  a  ripe  resolution  of  the  com- 
mittee. One  of  the  most  essential  institutions  of 
Judaism  is  the  day  of  consecration  and  rest,  and  with 
this  Judaism  itself  must  be  rescued  from  the  un- 
speakable confusion  and  haziness  in  whose  maw  the 
whole  religious  life  is  in  danger  of  being  swallowed; 
rescue  from  this  confusion  will  ensue  only  when  it  is 
exposed  vividly  in  its  imperfection  and  emptiness." 
The  discussions  on  the  Sabbath  question  occupied 
the  greater  portion  of  the  sessions  of  the  Breslau 
Conference.  The  committee  that  had  been  appointed 

70  Die    dritte  Versammlung    deutscher  Rabbiner.     Ein  Vor- 
laeufiges  Wort  zur  Verstandigung,  (Breslau,  1846). 


138  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

to  draw  up  the  report  consisted  of  Rabbis  Geiger,  S. 
Adler,  A.  Adler,  Wechsler  and  Kahn.  The  report 
that  they  presented  was  not  unanimous.  The 
majority  report  presented  by  Geiger,  Wechsler  and 
A.  Adler  set  forth  that  the  essential  idea  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  consecration  of  the  day  rather  than  complete 
absolute  rest.  This  in  fact  was  the  sharpest  point 
of  distinction  among  the  members  of  the  conference 
as  appeared  in  the  full  and  lengthy  discussions.  At 
the  close  of  the  entire  discussion  Geiger,  who  was  the 
president  of  the  Conference  stated  that  something 
must  be  done  to  preserve  the  Sabbath  and  that  the 
Committee's  suggestions  were  made  with  that  end 
in  view,  but  he  confessed  that  they  could  suggest  no 
satisfactory  remedy  that  would  remove  completely 
the  collision  between  life  and  Sabbath  observance.71 
The  outcome  of  the  discussion  at  the  Breslau  Con- 
ference was  extremely  unsatisfactory.  Holdheim  had 
declared  himself  unequivocally  for  a  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath  from  Saturday  to  Sunday.  He  regarded  the 
Sabbath  as  an  niN  ,  a  symbol;  it  was  therefore  not 
the  day  that  was  significant  but  the  idea  and  the  idea 
could  find  realization  on  any  day.  Geiger  declared 
flatly  in  contradiction  to  Holdheim,  that  the  Bible 
does  not  consider  the  Sabbath  a  symbol.  None  others 
of  the  rabbis  present  at  Breslau  with  the  exception  of 
M.  Hess  was  prepared  to  follow  Holdheim  in  his 
radical  program.  But  they  had  no  other  solution 
to  offer  for  the  difficulties  involved  in  the  situation. 
The  resolutions  finally  adopted  fell  lamentably  short 
of  meeting  the  issue.  The  Conference  was  voted  on 
71  Protokolle  der  dritten  Versammlung  deutscher  Rabbiner,  160. 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  139 


all  sides  a  failure  in  its  treatment  of  the  Sabbath 
problem.  Geiger  himself  who  as  president  of  the 
Conference  considered  it  incumbent  upon  himself  to 
place  the  work  of  the  Conference  before  the  public 
in  the  best  light  possible,  still  felt  constrained  to 
write  these  words:  "I  am  frank  to  confess  that  the 
results  achieved  by  the  Conference  towards  a  solution 
of  the  Sabbath  problem  are  small  in  comparison  with 
the  collisions  between  Sabbath  observance  and  life."72 
Throughout  all  his  life  Geiger  felt  that  this  conflict 
was  one  of  the  most  serious  ills  in  modern  Jewish  life, 
yes,  that  in  some  measure  it  might  be  considered  a 
very  canker  eating  into  the  vitals  of  Judaism.  He 
was  very  impatient  with  those  who  considered  the 
Sabbath  question  simply  from  the  standpoint  of 
Talmudical  casuistry;  he  felt  that  the  Talmudical 
legislation  for  the  Sabbath  was  outgrown ;  the  issue 
involved  was  the  very  existence  of  the  Sabbath  as  a 
day  of  consecration  and  rest;  no  pilpulistic  casuistics 
availed;  the  situation  now  is  altogether  different  from 
what  it  was  when  the  Talmudical  ideas  of  Sabbath 
observance  were  evolved .  At  the  Augsburg  Synod  in 
1871,  he  expressed  himself  very  clearly  on  the  subject 
when  he  said  "The  whole  method  and  manner  in 
which  Sabbath  observance  has  been  developed  during 
the  past  fifteen  hundred  years  is  clearly  and  decidedly 
contradictory  of  the  true  idea  of  the  Sabbath;  the 
scrupulous  prohibition  of  a  hundred  and  one  tasks, 
the  forced  externalism — this  is  no  longer  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  Sabbath.  The  significance  of  the  Sabbath 

72  Die  dritte  Rabbinerver sammlung ;  ein  vorlaeufiges  Wort  zur 
Verstaendigung,  4. 


140  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

lies  in  the  composure  of  the  spirit  and  of  our  whole 
nature.  We  must  have  this  constantly  in  view  and 
this  can  not  be  achieved  by  paragraphs  nor  by 
combinations  and  comparisons  of  passages  from  the 
writings  of  the  casuists  *  *  *  Let  us  leave  this 
alone,  if  we  have  not  the  courage  to  throw  the  whole 
casuistical  legislation  overboard.  That  indeed  were 
the  best  thing  to  do.  But  let  us  approach  only  the 
question  before  us  and  express  ourselves  briefly  and 
simply.  This  is  very  clear;  if  it  has  become  evident 
that  riding  on  the  Sabbath  will  enable  many  to 
attend  divine  services  who  would  be  prevented  other- 
wise, it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  this  will  be 
decided  in  the  affirmative  by  an  almost  unanimous 
vote.  But  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  the  various 
minutiae  of  this  and  similar  questions,  viz.:  what 
the  old  teachers  taught — men,  it  is  true,  of  the  deepest 
insight;  men  whose  memory  we  revere,  but  who 
lived  in  their  age  and  not  in  ours;  in  an  age  of  al- 
together different  views,  circumstances  and  conditions. 
Let  us  be  concerned,  then,  not  with  this  in  our  de- 
cisions of  the  point  before  us,  but  with  the  idea  of 
the  Sabbath,  with  the  needs  of  our  age." 

Always  the  same  clear  note,  always  the  same  un- 
confused  thought.  He  recognized  the  difficulties  but 
even  he,  the  finest  mind  among  Jewish  leaders  could 
find  no  all  satisfying  solution.  He  was  firmly  con- 
vinced that  the  seventh  day  Sabbath  is  the  Sabbath 
of  Judaism.  When  the  Berlin  Reform  Congregation, 
which  had  transferred  the  Sabbath  from  Saturday  to 
Sunday,  desired  him  to  accept  the  position  of  rabbi 
of  the  congregation  after  Holdheim's  death  in  1860, 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  141 

one  of  the  reasons  why  he  refused  was  that  he  would 
not  abrogate  the  Sabbath.73  However,  this  did  not 
necessitate  to  his  mind  opposition  to  a  supplementary 
service  on  Sunday  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  could  not 
attend  on  the  Sabbath.  In  1846  after  the  Breslau 
conference  had  adjourned  he  touched  this  subject 
in  his  defense  of  the  Conference.  He  said  that  the 
Conference  could  not  possibly  suggest  the  transfer  to 
Sunday;  an  institution  of  Judaism  that  has  existed 
for  thousands  of  years  and  is  one  of  its  very  funda- 
mentals can  not  be  legislated  out  of  existence  *  *  * 
As  for  a  service  on  Sunday  there  can  certainly  be  no 
objection  to  a  supplemental  service  so  long  as  it  is 
not  a  Sabbath  service,  and  any  congregation  can 
institute  it;  but  many  fear  that  it  is  only  the  opening 
wedge  to  a  complete  transfer.  The  Conference  al- 
though asked  to  pronounce  upon  the  permissability 
of  a  service  on  Sunday  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  do 
not  attend  on  Saturday  postponed  consideration  of 
the  question,  but  it  is  only  postponed;  the  Conference 
will  have  to  take  it  up  next  year  or  some  other  time. 

This  prophecy  failed  of  fulfilment  because  the 
Breslau  Conference  proved  to  be  the  last  of  these 
meetings;  Geiger  himself , however,  fifteen  years  later 
again  gave  expression  to  this  possible  solution  of  the 
difficulties  presented  by  the  modern  situation  when,  in 
a  brochure  already  referred  to,74  after  referring  to  the 


73  Ich  sagte  ihnen  dass  ich  heute  nicht  annehmen  werde  was 
ich   vor  vierzehn  Jahren  abgelehnt,  dass  ich  den  Sabbath  nicht 
abrogire,  etc.     Letter  to  Wechsler  Sept.  6,  1860  in  Nachgelassene 
Schriften,  V.,  247. 

74  Nothivendigkeit  und  Maass  einer  Reform  des  Juedischen 
Gottesdienstes,  Nachgelassene  Schriften,  I.,  226. 


142  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

institution  of  a  service  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays 
in  ancient  days  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  could  not 
attend  on  Sabbath  he  wrote:  "Let  us  follow  this 
example!  We  too  have  a  week  day  which  is  particu- 
larly available  for  divine  service  because  it  is  the 
public  day  of  rest,  viz:  Sunday.  Let  us  use  it  for 
this  purpose,  if  not  regularly  every  week,  then  from 
time  to  time.  An  impressive  Sunday  service  held, 
let  us  say,  once  every  four  weeks  will  accomplish  the 
purpose  of  giving  a  great  portion  of  the  congregation 
the  opportunity  of  worshipping  together  without 
encroaching  in  any  way  upon  the  rights  of  the  Sabbath 
*  *  *  You  make  the  Sabbath  a  work  day,  and 
Sunday  a  day  of  recreation,  but  must  our  religion 
give  way  to  the  claims  of  the  present  age  on  the 
former  day  and  to  the  adherence  to  the  past  on  the 
latter?  This  is  self-deception  by  which  the  religious 
life  will  be  totally  extinguished." 

CIRCUMCISION.  In  other  phases  of  practical  activity 
Geiger  frequently  found  that  he  could  not  carry  out 
his  reformatory  ideas.  Thus  while  he  looked  upon 
circumcision  as  a  "barbarous  bloody  act"75  still  he 
did  not  succeed  in  displacing  it  as  the  act  of  initiation 
into  the  covenant.  In  a  letter  written  to  Wechsler 
in  1849  he  stated  that  he  felt  that  a  new  form  of 
initiation  into  Judaism  must  be  found  which  would 
replace  circumcision.  "Blessing  the  mother  does  not 
appear  sufficient,  the  child  also  should  be  present 
(in  the  synagogue);  the  reform  might  be  inaugurated 
with  the  girls;  thus  pradually  the  new  form  would 

75  Nachgelassene  Schrijten,  V.,  181.     (Letter  to  Zunz,  1845.) 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  143 

displace   circumcision    as   confirmation    is   displacing 
the  Bar  Mizwah.™ 

THE  STATUS  OF  WOMAN.  The  Bar  Mitzwah  cere- 
mony representing  on  the  one  hand  the  Oriental 
conception  of  woman's  inferiority  and  on  the  other 
hand  embodying  the  traditional  rabbinical  view  of 
Judaism  as  a  system  of  mitzwot,  the  observance  of 
which  became  incumbent  upon  the  male  with  the 
attainment  of  the  age  of  religious  majority  was 
recognized  in  the  early  days  of  the  reform  movement 
as  one  of  these  ceremonies  which  gave  point  to  the 
contention  of  the  reformers  that  when  a  ceremony 
was  merely  a  lifeless  survival  it  could  be  removed 
none  too  soon  and  replaced  by  another  ceremony 
that  should  be  expressive  of  the  new  point  of  view. 
Therefore  the  confirmation  ceremony  for  boys  and 
girls  was  introduced;  this  ceremony  expressed  among 
other  things  the  reform  view  of  woman's  religious 
equality  with  man.  This  vindication  of  woman's 
religious  rights  is  one  of  the  marked  achievements  of 
the  reform  movement.  Geiger  was  the  first  public 
champion  of  the  religious  emancipation  of  the  Jewish 
woman.  In  1837  he  published  his  famous  essay  en- 
titled "Die  Stellung  des  Weiblichen  Geschlechtes  in 
dent  Judenihume  unserer  Zeit."  This  was  a  stirring 
plea  for  woman's  religious  equality  and  closed  with 
the  eloquent  words  "Let  there  be  from  now  on  no 
distinction  between  duties  for  men  and  women  unless 
flowing  from  the  natural  laws  governing  the  sexes; 
no  assumption  of  the  spiritual  minority  of  woman 


76  Nachgdassene  Schriften,  V.,  202-3. 


144  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

as  though  she  were  incapable  of  grasping  the  deep 
things  in  religion ;  no  institution  of  the  public  service 
either  in  form  or  in  content,  which  shuts  the  door  of 
the  temple  in  the  face  of  woman;  no  degradation  of 
the  woman  in  the  form  of  the  marriage  service,  and  no 
applying  of  fetters  which  may  destroy  woman's 
happiness.  Then  will  also  the  Jewish  girl  and  the 
Jewish  woman,  conscious  of  the  significance  of  the 
faith,  become  fervently  attached  to  it,  and  our  whole 
religious  life  will  profit  from  the  beneficial  influence 
which  feminine  hearts  know  how  to  bestow  on  it."77 
In  accordance  with  this  view  of  woman's  religious 
emancipation  was  Geiger's  suggestion  of  a  change  in 
the  traditional  marriage  ceremony.  He  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  Marriage  Reforms  at  the 
Augsburg  Synod.  The  Committee  suggested  that 
the  Synod  declare  it  to  be  permissible  for  the  biide 
to  place  a  ring  on  the  bridegroom's  finger  with  some 
appropriate  words  after  the  groom  placed  the  ring 
on  the  bride's  finger  with  the  traditional  formula, 
v  ntJHpD  nx  '"in.  In  the  pursuant  discussion  Geiger, 
after  suggesting  that  the  bride  use  the  phrase  "JN 
"6  nVTi  "nrb  (I  am  my  beloved's,  and  my  beloved 
is  mine)  gave  the  reason  for  this  recommendation 
of  the  Committee  when  he  said:  "The  old  ju- 
dicial view  according  to  which  woman  was  a  chattel 
that  the  man  acquired,  has  disappeared  entirely 
from  among  us.  We  do  not  wish  to  retain  any 

77  Wissenschaftliche  Zeitschrift  fuer  juedische  Theologie,  III., 
1-14.  In  his  prayer  book  Geiger  omitted  the  benediction  11*12 
HK>N  *yyy  tbv.  . .  .*"  nriK  Praised  be  Thou,  O  Lord  our  Lord, 
Ruler  of  the  Universe,  Who  has  not  made  me  a  woman." 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  145 

form  whatsoever  which  was  symbolical  of  the 
view  of  earlier  days.  This  is  the  significance  of  the 
resolution  that  two  rings  be  used  in  the  ceremony  in 
order  that  it  may  become  known  thereby  that  the 
man  and  the  woman  marry  one  another,  as  responsible 
moral  personalites ;  or  if  only  one  ring  be  used,  Juda- 
ism protests  decidedly  against  the  imputation  that  an 
old  Oriental  view  still  holds  in  its  midst  whereby  the 
worth  and  dignity  of  woman  is  discriminated  against 
legally  in  any  wray,  even  though  this  was  not  the 
case  in  life." 

MARRIAGE  LAWS.  When  the  Leipzig  Synod  con- 
vened Geiger  as  stated  above  presented  a  number  of 
subjects  whereon  he  felt  some  action  should  be  taken. 
Among  these  was  the  reform  of  the  marriage  laws. 
The  Leipzig  Synod  appointed  a  committee  to  report  on 
these  reforms;  this  committee  reported  at  the  Augs- 
burgh  Synod  which  passed  a  number  of  resolutions 
reforming  the  rabbinical  marriage  legislation.78  These 
resolutions  were  in  a  line  with  the  suggestion  of  Geiger 
He  advocated  the  abolition  of  the  chalitzah  ceremony. 
He  desired  also  reforms  in  the  divorce  legislation  in 
accordance  with  the  following  suggestions;  a  divorce 
according  to  rabbinical  law  should  be  given  as  a 
matter  of  course  if  the  civil  courts  have  granted  a 
decree  of  divorce ;  the  marriage  of  a  divorced  woman 
to  a  so-called  Kohenor  Aaronide  should  be  permitted; 
all  restrictions  of  the  rabbinical  law  touching  the 
marriage  of  the  Kohen  should  be  abolished;  particu- 
larly should  his  marriage  with  a  proselyte  be  permitted. 


78  Philipson  The  Reform  Movement  in  Judaism,  435-446. 


146  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


Here  as  elsewhere  Geiger  held  that  the  rabbinical 
legislation  must  be  changed  or  abolished  in  order  to 
conform  to  the  changed  conditions  in  the  life  and 
outlook  of  the  Jew  in  modern  society.  The  rabbincial 
legislation  as  codified  in  the  Schtdchan  Arukh  was 
fitted  to  conditions  in  Jewish  life  'which  were  no 
longer  existent  in  the  lands  in  which  the  Jews  had 
been  emancipated  and  had  become  occidentalized. 
The  Jewish  reform  movement  in  which  Geiger  played 
so  prominent  a  part  and  the  intent  of  which  he  so 
clearly  understood  is  part  and  parcel  of  that  great 
religious  current  which  has  been  sweeping  mankind 
forward  since  the  beginning  of  the  modern  age.  The 
Jew  lives  in  the  modern  world ,  not  apart  from  it ;  the 
separatism  of  mediaeval  ghettoism  and  rabbinism 
has  yielded  to  the  participation  in  the  culture  and 
interests  of  the  society  in  which  he  lives  and  whereof 
he  forms  a  part.  Here  the  strength  of  Judaism  must 
find  its  supreme  test.  If  this  religion  requires  the 
ghetto,  be  it  local  or  national,  be  it  Russian  Pale  or 
Palestinian  state,  or  in  other  words  a  separatist 
existence  away  from  the  non-Jewish  surroundings  to 
develop  its  highest  possibilities  it  has  no  world  mis- 
sion. The  reform  movement  denies  this  and  declares 
that  Judaism  fulfills  its  highest  reach  by  witnessing 
among  men  everywhere  to  the  truth  of  God  as  de- 
clared by  Moses  and  the  prophets  and  developed 
through  ages  of  endeavor  and  suffering  by  their 
followers.  Such  was  the  teaching  and  the  faith  of 
Abraham  Geiger;  his  was  the  unshaken  conviction 
that  Judaism's  greatest  opportunity  lies  in  its  work 
among  men  in  all  parts  of  the  world;  the  dispersion  of 


ABRAHAM  GEIGER  147 

the  Jews  was  providential;  the  emancipation  of  the 
latter  days  was  the  beginning  of  new  service  in  the 
cause  of  the  highest  truth;  "Judaism  requires  only 
the  liberating  breath  in  order  to  be  rejuvenated  from 
within,"  he  once  declared;  the  rejuvenation,  and  the 
regeneration  of  the  ancient  faith  formed  the  burden 
of  his  thought;  he  was  a  modern  prophet  of  Jewish 
universalism,  a  spiritual  descendant  of  that  ancient 
seer  who  pointed  with  undimmed  vision  to  the  coming 
of  the  day  when  "God  will  be  One  and  His  Name 
One." 


MAX  LILIENTHAL* 
(1815-1915) 

IT  has  become  the  laudable  custom  of  our  Con- 
ference to  commemorate  the  centenaries  of  the 
birth  of  great  Jewish  leaders,  notably  such  as  were 
the  outstanding  figures  in  the  early  years  of  our 
liberal  movement,  by  papers  setting  forth  the  salient 
facts  of  their  life  work  and  the  distinguishing  con- 
tributions they  made  to  the  service  of  progressive 
Jewish  thought  and  endeavor.  This  year,  1915,  marks 
the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  two 
leaders  who  contributed  greatly  towards  making  the 
record  of  liberal  Judaism  glorious,  Samuel  Hirsch,  the 
philosopher,  and  Max  Lilienthal,  the  conciliator. 
The  duty  of  presenting  the  record  of  the  fine  service 
of  the  latter  has  been  entrusted  by  his  colleagues  to  the 
present  speaker,  the  pupil,  successor  and  biographer 
of  him  who  was  strikingly  named  during  his  lifetime 
and  after  his  passing,  the  American  Jewish  Prince 
of  Peace. 

Max  Lilienthal  was  born  in  Munich,  Bavaria,  on 
the  sixteenth  of  October,  1815.  His  parents  were  in 
affluent  circumstances  and  his  father  held  a  dis- 
tinguished place  in  the  Jewish  community.  Ac- 
cording to  a  family  tradition,  the  mother,  who  died 
while  this  son  was  in  his  teens,  expressed  the  wish 
on  her  death-bed  that  he  pursue  the  rabbinical 
career.  With  this  end  in  view,  the  youth  matriculated 

*Centenary  address  at  meeting  of  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis,  July  4,  1915,  at  Charlevoix,  Mich. 

149 


150  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

at  the  University  of  Munich  and  at  the  same  time 
received  instruction  in  the  Hebrew  branches  of  learning 
from  Rabbi  Moses  Wittelsbacher.  He  also  attended 
the  famous  yeschibah  of  Wolf  Hamburger  in  Fuerth. 
He  received  the  rabbinical  degree  from  Hirsch  Aub, 
rabbi  of  Munich. 

Lilienthal  passd  so  brilliant  an  examination  in 
taking  his  degree  at  the  University  that  he  was 
offered  a  position  in  the  diplomatic  service.  Although 
it  had  been  his  fixed  purpose  to  follow  the  labbinical 
career,  still  this  offer  was  so  attractive  that  he  felt 
impelled  to  accept  it,  notably  since,  owing  to  the  loss 
of  the  family  possessions  through  a  disastrous  fire, 
he,  as  the  eldest  of  the  children,  felt  it  incumbent 
upon  him  to  assist  in  the  rearing  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  However,  upon  being  informed  that,  if  he 
accepted  this  post,  he  must  become  converted  to 
Catholicism,  he  rejected  the  offer  indignantly.  This 
closed  the  incident,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
assuring  him  that  such  being  his  attitude,  he  could 
not  possibly  pursue  a  diplomatic  career  in  Bavaria. 

He  turned  definitely  now  to  what  had  been  his 
heart's  desire  from  the  first,  the  rabbinical  office. 
But  a  change  had  come  upon  the  government's  legis- 
lation in  the  matter  of  filling  these  offices.  The  move- 
ment for  religious  reform  was  alarming  the  adherents 
of  traditional  Judaism.  They  succeeded  in  impressing 
the  government  with  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  the 
"innovators,"  as  the  reformers  were  called.  But  in 
this  bitter  opposition  to  all  religious  reform,  they  were 
playing  with  fire;  for  the  government  was  not  satisfied 
with  legislating  against  this  alone,  but,  in  1838,  an 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  151 


edict  was  promulgated  which  re-enacted  all  the  harshest 
mediaeval  restrictive  measures  against  the  Jews. 
And  in  that  same  year  the  order  was  issued  forbidding 
congregations  from  selecting  as  their  rabbis,  such 
candidates  as  held  liberal  views,  or,  as  the  exact 
words  of  the  decree  put  it,  "candidates  favoring  de- 
structive neology".  Whether  or  no  this  was  the 
reason  why  Lilienthal  did  not  succeed  in  securing  a 
position,  there  is  no  means  of  knowing,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  he  never  officiated  as  rabbi  for  a  Ba- 
varian congregation.  His  work  was  to  lie  in  other 
lands. 

In  the  year  1838  he  began  publishing  in  the  columns 
of  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums  a  series  of 
articles  on  the  Hebrew  manuscripts  in  the  royal 
library  of  Munich.  This  literary  work  brought  him 
into  intimate  connection  with  Dr.  Ludwig  Philippson, 
the  editor  of  the  journal  in  question.  It  was  through 
this  circumstance  that  the  opening  years  of  Lilienthal's 
active  career  were  passed,  not  as  rabbi  in  a  small 
Bavarian  Jewish  congregation,  but  as  the  companion 
of  statesmen  and  diplomats  in  the  great  Russian 
empire.  For  it  was  Ludwig  Philippson,  the  best- 
known  German  Jew,  to  whom  Uwaroff,  the  Russian 
Minister  of  Education,  turned  for  advice  as  to  who 
should  be  entrusted  with  the  superintendency  of  the 
new  school  to  be  established  in  Riga,  the  beginning 
of  the  great  task  of  modernizing  the  Jewish  schools 
in  Russia.  And  Ludwig  Philippson  recommended 
Max  Lilienthal  as  the  young  man  who,  in  his  opinion, 
was  best  equipped  for  this  pioneer  work. 

He  left  his  father's  house  on  the  eighth  of  October, 


152  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

1839,  for  the  land  which  was  to  be  his  home  during 
five  eventful  years.  He  had  little  conception  of  the 
difficulties  of  the  work  he  was  entering  upon.  It  was 
only  after  he  had  been  settled  in  the  country  for  a  short 
time  that  he  began  to  realize  the  immensity  of  the 
task  he  had  undertaken  at  the  instance  of  Uwaroff. 
He  had  much  to  learn  and  he  learned  it  at  bitter  cost. 
He  was  the  first  German  Jew  of  prominence  to  come 
into  close  connection  with  the  inner  life  of  Russian 
Jewry.  His  fascinating  account  of  his  work  in  Russia 
entitled  "My  Travels  in  Russia",  which,  unfortunately 
is  only  a  fragment,  and  his  fine  studies  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Russian  Jew,  published  under  the 
caption  "Russian  Sketches",  contain  the  record  of 
his  work  during  these  pioneer  years  and  the  impres- 
sions made  upon  him  by  his  co-religionists  in  what 
was  practically  an  unknown  land* to  the  Jews  of 
western  Europe.  The  great  mass  of  Russian  Jews 
had  been  touched  in  no  way  by  the  modern  spirit; 
among  them  the  rabbinical  interpretation  of  the  law 
held  full  sway.  In  the  eighteenth  century  there  had 
arisen  in  Russia  the  movement  known  as  Chassidism, 
a  protest  against  the  rigorous  legalism  of  rabbinical 
tradition;  the  sect  of  the  Chassidim,  noble  and  pure  as 
were  the  motives  of  the  founder,  Israel  Baal  Shem, 
had  degenerated  into  superstitious  obscurantists 
whom  the  wonder  working  rabbis  held  in  thrall. 
Still  the  effect  of  the  newer  efforts  for  secular  edu- 
cation, so  marked  among  German  Jews  since  the  days 
of  Moses  Mendelssohn,  found  an  echo  in  some 
Jewish  quarters  in  Russia.  The  men  who  headed 
these  attempts  to  bring  their  co-religionists  into  accord 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  153 

with  the  modern  spirit  are  known  as  Maskilim  and 
the  movement  which  they  sponsored,  as  the  Haskalah 
movement.  This  movement  was  concerned  largely 
with  the  effort  to  found  schools  in  which  the  children 
and  the  youth  should  receive  instruction  in  what  we 
now  call  secular  branches  as  well  as  in  the  tiaditional 
Hebrew  disciplines, which  had  formed  the  entire  content 
of  their  education  hitherto.  This  Haskalah  movement 
in  Russia  was  the  reflex  of  the  Mendelssohnian 
movement  in  Germany,  but  the  obstacles  in  Russia, 
both  within  from  the  Jewish  communities  and  without 
from  the  government,  wrere  much  greater  and  progress 
was  therefore  much  more  retarded. 

The  Maskilim,  chief  among  whom  was  Isaac  Baer 
Levinsohn,  had  made  great  efforts  to  modernize  edu- 
cation among  their  co-religionists.  One  such  modern 
school  in  Odessa  was  headed  by  Bezalel  Stern,  a  native 
of  Galicia. 

'  In  the  year  1838  Count  UwarofT,  the  Minister  of 
Education,  came  to  Riga;  the  representatives  of  the 
Jewish  congregation  presented  to  him  a  petition 
requesting  governmental  permission  to  open  a  school 
in  two  sections,  the  one  for  boys  and  the  other  for 
girls,  wherein  the  Jewish  religion  was  to  be  taught 
systematically  and  instruction  in  the  Bible  to  be 
given  after  the  German  translation  of  Mendelssohn ; 
the  superintendent  was  to  be  a  foreigner  of  the  Jewish 
faith  who  had  been  trained  in  the  spirit  of  pure  en- 
lightenment ;  the  assistant  was  to  be  a  Christian.  This 
petition  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  Uwaroff  and  he 
considered  it  of  such  interest  and  importance  that  he 
laid  it  before  the  Czar.  Being  favored  by  the  Em- 


154  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

peror,  the  request  to  found  the  school  was  ratified. 
Steps  were  taken  at  once  to  put  the  plan  into  opera- 
tion. As  the  school  was,  by  the  action  of  the  Em- 
peror, under  governmental  protection,  Uwaroff  under- 
took to  secure  a  capable  superintendent;  as  already 
stated,  through  the  recommendation  of  Ludwig 
Philippson,  the  choice  fell  upon  Max  Lilienthal. 

This  school  was  opened  in  Riga  on  January  16, 
1840.  Lilienthal  delivered  the  inaugural  address  in 
German.  The  young  director  devoted  himself  to  his 
task  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Secular  as  well 
as  sacred  branches  were  taught. 

The  congregation  also  elected  Lilienthal  preacher. 
His  sermons  delivered  in  the  German  language  at- 
tracted large  congregations  of  both  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians. The  Jews  recognized  in  a  short  time  his  earnest- 
ness and  conscientiousness  and  the  suspicions  that 
they  may  have  entertained  soon  disappeared.  The 
rabbi  of  the  community,  a  Talmudist  of  the  old  school, 
gave  him  a  hearty  welcome.  Neither  interfered  with 
the  sphere  of  the  other.  Lilienthal's  fame  spread 
beyond  the  confines  of  Riga.  The  Maskilim  hailed 
him  as  a  new  and  great  leader.  He  entered  into  cor- 
respondence with  a  number  of  them,  notably  the 
famous  M.  A.  Guenzberg  and  Nissin  Rosenthal,  the 
most  prominent  of  the  Maskilim  of  Vilna. 

His  great  success  in  Riga  made  him  a  marked  man. 
He  was  eulogized  by  the  advocates  of  the  newer 
education  among  the  Russian  Jews  and  denounced  as 
a  "Berliner"  or  "Datschel"  and  an  innovator  by  the 
Chassidim  and 'the  followers  of  the  old  order.  Uwaroff 
too,  kept  in  constant  touch  with  his  work.  After  he 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  155 


had  been  active  in  Riga  a  year,  Lilienthal  was  called 
to  St.  Petersburg  by  the  minister  to  inaugurate  the 
larger  task  of  founding  schools  in  all  the  Russian 
Jewish  communities  like  unto  that  which  he  had 
manned  so  successfully  in  Riga. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  narrative,  it  may 
be  well  to  say  a  word  about  the  purpose  of  the  em- 
peror and  his  ministers  in  this  matter  of  founding 
modern  schools  for  the  Jews.  Many  Jews  were 
suspicious  of  the  sincerity  of  the  government;  they 
looked  upon  the  whole  plan  as  a  proselytizing  scheme. 
Such  claimed  that  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews,  and 
this  alone,  would  prove  the  sincerity  of  the  govern- 
ment in  its  educational  projects  for  the  Jews.  The 
entire  attitude  of  the  Emperor  justified  them  in  their 
suspicions.  His  efforts  as  ruler  were  directed  towards 
the  realization  of  his  motto:  "One  country,  one 
language,  one  church".  It  was  these  justifiable 
suspicions  which  proved  the  most  difficult  obstacle 
for  Lilienthal  to  overcome. 

In  one  of  his  conversations  with  Uwaroff,  Lilienthal 
communicated  to  the  minister  this  fear  of  the  Jews 
that  the  Emperor's  educational  plan  was  merely  a 
blind  for  wholesale  conversion  and  that  it  was  not 
sincerely  meant.  When  asked  how  these  appre- 
hensions might  be  removed,  he  answered,  "To  grant 
at  once  their  emancipation;  or,  if  the  government 
considers  this  step  a  hasty  one,  to  grant  them  at  least 
some  favors,  convincing  them  unquestionably  that 
their  religious  rights  will  not  be  infringed  upon  nor 
their  liberties  be  curtailed  further  and  that  a  bright, 
hopeful  future  is  in  store  for  them."  Uwaroff  now 


156  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


assured  him  that  the  Emperor's  intentions  were  only 
for  the  welfare  of  his  Jewish  subjects.  That  he 
trusted  thoroughly  in  the  representations  of  Uwaroff 
that  there  was  no  ulterior  conversionist  purpose  in  the 
plan,  there  can  not  be  the  least  doubt,  for  as  soon  as, 
to  his  dismay,  he  became  convinced  to  the  contrary, 
he  left  the  country,  as  shall  appear  shortly. 

Lilienthal  was  entrusted  with  the  task  of  persuading 
the  Jews  to  accede  to  the  governmental  plan  of  estab- 
lishing these  schools  for  the  young.  He  began  his 
work  along  this  line  in  Vilna  where,  largely  through 
the  active  and  enthusiastic  support  of  Rosenthal, 
Klatzko  and  their  friends  among  the  Maskilim, 
Lilienthal  succeeded  in  gaining  the  endorsement  of 
the  community  for  the  governmental  plan.  From 
Vilna  he  proceeded  to  Minsk,  having  received  an 
invitation  from  the  Jewish  leaders  of  that  city  to 
come  there.  The  Jewish  community  of  this  city  had 
shown  no  sympathy  whatsoever  with  the  Haskalah 
movement  but  quite  the  contrary;  most  active  oppo- 
sition had  been  evinced  against  any  and  all  such 
attempts.  Lilienthal's  friends  and  admirers  among 
the  Maskilim  of  Vilna,  fearing  that  the  invitation  to 
Minsk  was  a  plot  to  lure  him  from  Vilna  and  to  devise 
some  scheme  against  him  that  would  prevent  the 
further  prosecution  of  his  work,  implored  him  not  to 
proceed  to  that  city.  They  pointed  out  to  him  that 
he  would  be  friendless  there  and  in  a  hotbed  of  oppo- 
sition and  enmity.  He  felt,  however,  so  secure  in  the 
strength  of  his  mission  and  his  ability  to  present  it, 
that  he  proceeded  undaunted  to  the  stronghold  of 
Chassidism  and  rigid  orthodoxy.  Here  his  reception 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  157 

was  altogether  different  from  that  accorded  to  him  in 
Vilna.  He  was  bitterly  insulted.  It  appeared  at 
times  that  even  his  life  was  in  danger.  The  fanatics 
mocked  him,  following  him  through  the  streets  and 
shouting  derisively  "get  thee  gone,  shaven  one;1  get 
thee  gone".  The  meeting  at  which  he  set  forth  his 
plans  was  very  stormy;  all  his  eloquence  availed  him 
naught.  He  was  utterly  defeated. 

The  reactionaries  carried  the  day  and  Lilienthal 
left  Minsk  to  return  to  Vilna,  feeling  that  the  task 
he  had  undertaken  would  prove  most  difficult  of 
fulfillment.  The  effect  of  his  defeat  at  Minsk  proved 
disastrous  in  Vilna.  During  his  absence,  his  enemies 
had  been  active.  They  succeeded  in  reversing  the 
sentiment  of  the  community.  Lilienthal,  noting  the 
change,  asked  that  another  meeting  be  called  at  which 
he  might  present  his  cause  a  second  time,  and  possibly 
win  over  the  people  once  again.  He  pleaded  in  vain. 
No  second  assembly  was  called.  His  experience  in 
Minsk  and  his  second  attempt  at  Vilna  convinced 
him  that  he  must  labor  hard  indeed  to  gain  the  Jewish 
communities  for  his  cause. 

He  returned  to  St.  Petersburg.  Here,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  department  of  the  Ministry  of  Educa- 
tion, he  worked  out  the  plan  for  the  organization  of 
Jewish  education.  'As  a  result  of  these  deliberations, 
an  edict  was  promulgated,  the  chief  provision  of  which 
was  that  a  commission  of  four  members  was  to  be 
elected  by  the  Jews  themselves  which  commission 

1  Being  clean  shaven,  Lilienthal  was  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion by  the  Russian  Jews,  who  carried  out  literally  the  command, 
Lev.  XIX,  27. 


158  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

was  to  work  out  the  plan  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
Jewish  schools. 

Lilienthal  was  commissioned  to  visit  the  Jewish 
communities  of  Russia  to  acquaint  them  with  the 
provisions  of  this  edict,  to  induce  them  to  accede 
peaceably  to  the  governmental  plan  and  to  elect  the 
members  of  the  rabbinical  commission  as  provided 
for  in  the  edict.  He  was  to  undertake  this  journey 
as  the  representative  of  the  Government;  his  journey 
was  to  proceed  through  all  the  provinces  inhabited 
by  the  Jews. 

In  the  fourth  paragraph  of  the  letter  of  instructions 
issued  to  him,  the  assurance  is  given  that  the  religion 
of  the  Jews  was  not  to  be  interfered  with.  Lilienthal 
had  demanded  that  this  be  included  in  order  that  all 
suspicions  might  be  dispelled  and  the  consent  of  the 
Jews  be  thus  obtained  the  more  readily. 

Before  embarking  on  this  all  important  journey, 
he  issued  his  famous  address  to  the  Russian  Jews 
entitled  "Maggid  Yeshuah"2  (The  Announcer  of 

2  The  address  called  forth  an  anonymous  rejoinder  entitled 
" Maggid Emeth"  (The  Announcer  of  the  Truth).  The  writer  of 
this  answer  is  actuated  by  a  bitter  spirit  of  enmity  and  opposition 
to  Lilienthal;  he  claims  that  Lilienthal  desired  merely  to  ingrati- 
ate himself  with  the  rich,  and  that  he  was  hypocritical  in  that  he 
was  most  punctilious  in  observing  every  ceremony  in  order  to 
curry  favor  with  the  orthodox.  Kahana,  whose  article  on  Lilien- 
thal and  the  Haskalah  (in  Hashiloach  XXVII,  314-22,  446-57, 
546-56)  is  distinctly  antagonistic,  claims  that  this  rejoinder  was 
written  by  the  famous  Maskil,  M.  A.  Guenzberg,  to  whom  Lilien- 
thal showed  himself  most  ungrateful  after  Guenzberg  had  aided 
him  with  his  influence.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  M.  A. 
Guenzberg  could  not  have  written  this  rejoinder,  because,  in  a 
later  publication,  Kikayon  Deyonah,  he  criticizes  the  Maggid 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  159 

Salvation).  This  remarkable  document  created  a 
great  stir  among  the  Jews  of  Russia.  It  was  in  this 
address  to  his  co-religionists  that  he  announced  the 
purpose  of  the  government  to  convene  the  Com- 
mission on  Jewish  education  that  was  to  have  four 
members  elected  by  the  Jews  themselves  who  were  to 
work  out  the  plan  for  the  schools  which  were  to  be 
established  for  the  education  of  the  Jewish  young. 
He  called  upon  his  co-religionists  to  take  advantage 
of  the  humane  and  well-intentioned  purposes  of  the 
government.  If  they  failed  to  avail  themselves  of 
this  great  opportunity  their  enemies  would  find 
comfort  and  justification  in  the  claim  that  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  Russian  Jews  was  their  own 
fault  and  was  due  to  their  ignorance  and  superstition. 
Lilienthal  started  forth  on  what  may  be  called  his 
propagandist  journey  to  win  the  Jews  to  the  govern- 
mental plan  of  reforming  the  Jewish  educational 
system  toward  the  end  of  July,  1842.  His  progress 
was  almost  in  the  nature  of  a  triumphal  march. 
He  visited  all  the  important  cities  in  the  provinces 
inhabited  by  Jews.  He  won  them  over  to  the  govern- 
ment's plan.  As  a  result  of  his  journey,  the  Jews 
elected  as  the  members  of  the  Commission,  Rabbi 
Isaac  ben  Chayim,  head  of  the  yeshibah  of  Volishin, 
the  most  celebrated  Jewish  seat  of  learning  in  Russia; 


Emeth  for  the  attack  on  Lilienthal.  (Scheinhaus,  Ein  deutscher 
Pionier).  Either  Scheinhaus  is  correct  in  his  contention,  which 
seems  most  probable,  or,  if  not,  and  Guenzberg  did  write  the 
Maggid  Emeth,  his  later  statements  must  be  considered  in  the 
light  of  a  retraction  of  the  Maggid  Emeth,  involving  thus  a  clear- 
ing of  Lilienthal  from  the  charges  there  made. 


160  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


Mendel  Schneersohn,  a  leader  of  the  Chassidim; 
Michael  Heilprin,  a  banker  of  Berdichef ;  and  Bezalel 
Stern,  the  superintendent  of  the  school  at  Odessa. 
Lilienthal  also  sat  with  the  Commission. 

The  commission  began  its  meetings  in  April,  1843 
and  continued  in  session  till  August.  Naturally 
there  had  to  be  much  give  and  take.  It  had  been 
hoped  that  a  complete  understanding  would  be 
reached,  but  this  did  not  prove  to  be  the  case.  The 
men  forming  the  Commission  were  far  apart  in  their 
views.  The  discussions  were  heated.  Rabbi  Isaac 
and  the  Chassidaic  leader,  Mendel  Schneersohn,  were 
not  in  sympathy.  Stern  and  Lilienthal  indulged  in 
vigorous  debates.  Still,  in  the  end,  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  signed  the  report  embodying 
the  desires  of  the  government  as  to  the  establishment 
of  schools  of  the  character  of  those  already  existing 
in  Riga  and  Odessa.  The  Commission  also  placed  its 
approval  upon  the  books  to  be  used  in  the  schools,  a 
list  of  which  had  been  submitted  to  them. 

The  edict  for  the  establishment  of  these  schools  was 
issued  on  November  13,  1844.  It  had  been  under- 
stood that  the  schools  were  to  be  superintended  by 
Jewish  scholars  to  be  imported  from  Germany.  In 
fact,  Lilienthal  had  received  assurances  from  many- 
such  of  their  willingness  to  undertake  this  work. 
However,  when  the  schools  were  finally  opened,  this 
plan  of  Lilienthal's  which  had  been  approved  by 
Uwaroff  was  repudiated  by  the  government  even 
though  as  many  as  two  hundred  German  Jewish 
teachers  had  signified  their  willingness  to  come  to 
Russia  to  help  along  this  work.  Such  a  procedure  ill 


MAX  LILIEXTHAL  161 


comported  with  the  Czar's  program  of  russification. 
Instead  of  importing  German  teachers,  it  was  decided 
to  follow  the  plan  of  the  Russian  schools,  patterning 
the  elementary  schools  after  the  parochial  schools, 
the  higher  schools  after  the  district  schools  and  the 
rabbinical  seminaries  after  the  seminaries  of  the 
Greek  Church. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  faith  was  not 
kept  with  Lilienthal.  Despite  the  assurances  of 
Uwaroff  and  other  high  officials  that  there  was  no 
desire  to  convert  the  Jews  by  the  establishment  of 
these  schools,  it  appeared  in  the  sequel  that  these 
assurances  were  not  sincere.  Uwaroff's  first  plans  for 
the  education  of  the  Jews  were  kept  secret  and  were 
hot  published  for  some  time;  they  were  unknown  to 
Lilienthal.  In  this  document  Uwaroff  stated  that 
instruction  in  the  specific  Jewish  branches  must  be 
minimized  so  that  the  present  Jewish  educational 
methods  may  be  displaced  by  instruction  in  the 
catechism;  instruction  in  the  Talmud  was  to  be  only 
a  pretense  and  the  religious  and  philosophical  Jewish 
commentaries  were  to  be  dropped  at  the  first  op- 
portunity.3 

It  may  be  that,  because  of  his  contact  with  Lilien- 
thal, Uwaroff  may  have  changed  his  ideas  as  expressed 
in  this  original  plan  and  have  been  sincere  in  the 
assurances  he  gave  that  there  was  no  desire  to  pro- 
selytize. This  may  account  for  the  fact  that  the 
edict  of  November,  1844,  was  scarcely  promulgated 
ere  Uwaroff  was  relieved  of  his  office  and  the  carrying 

3  See  Scheinhaus,  Ein  deutscher  Pionier,  Allgemeine  Zeilung 
des  Judenthums,  1911,  p.  439. 


162  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

out  of  the  plan  committed  to  other  men  who  had  had 
no  share  in  the  initial  work.  These  men  had  no 
appreciation  of  the  situation.  When  the  schools 
were  finally  established,  Christians  were  made  in- 
spectors. These  inspectors  had  no  conception  of  the 
delicacy  and  seriousness  of  the  task.  They  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  work  as  far  as  it  was  in  the  interest 
of  the  Jews.  True,  the  teachers  of  the  Jewish  branches 
were  Jews.  Many  of  these  were  incompetent.  Such 
as  were  capable  had  constant  difficulties,  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  Christian  inspectors  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  with  the  Melammedim,  or  old  style  Jewish 
teachers,  whose  occupation  was  seiiously  interfered 
with  by  the  establishment  of  these  schools. 

Further,  several  new  edicts  against  the  Jews  were 
issued  during  this  period,  notably  the  dread  ukase 
by  which  Nicholas  I  delimited  the  dwelling  places  of 
the  Jews  to  within  fifty  versts  of  the  frontier,  the 
source  of  untold  suffering  and  inhuman  repression. 
The  leopard  had  not  changed  his  spots  despite  the 
seeming  good  will  expressed  in  the  documents  con- 
cerned with  the  government's  educational  plans  for 
the  Jews. 

Little  wonder  then  that  the  Jews  had  their  sus- 
picions reawakened  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the  govern- 
ment's professions.  Little  wonder,  too,  that  Lilien- 
thal  gradually  awakened  to  the  fact  that  the  govern- 
ment's pretended  interest  in  the  Jews  was  hypocritical. 
The  great  work  for  the  \velfare  of  his  co-religionists 
on  which  he  had  embarked  with  such  high  hopes  and 
such  glowing  enthusiasm  had  fallen  far  short  of  his 
expectations.  Still  he  was  willing  to  remain  in  Russia 


MAX  LILIEXTHAL  163 


and  to  work  for  and  with  his  co-religionists.  He  had 
been  elected  preacher  of  the  great  congregation  in 
Odessa,  a  post,  however,  which  he  did  not  enter 
upon. 

In  December,  1844,  he  had  written  his  fiancee  Miss 
Pepi  Nettre  of  Munich,  to  make  ready  for  their 
marriage  in  the  following  May.  In  this  letter  he 
advised  her  to  provide  herself  with  heavy  furs  re- 
quired by  the  rigors  of  the  Russian  climate.  It  was 
evidently  his  intention  to  bring  his  bride  to  Russia. 
What  was  it,  then,  that  made  him  decide  to  go  to 
America  instead  of  returning  to  Russia  after  his 
marriage  as  was  surely  his  intention  at  the  time  this 
letter  was  written? 

In  a  recent  book  on  Lilienthal's  work  in  Russia,  it 
is  stated  that  the  reason  which  impelled  him  to  leave 
the  country  suddenly  was  that  he  was  approached 
with  the  proposal  to  become  a  convert  to  the  Greek 
Catholic  Church.4  If  this  is  true,  as  is  possible,  one 
can  well  imagine  the  indignation  with  which  the 
suggestion  was  received.  That  some  such  impression 
was  abroad  at  the  time  appears  from  a  contemporary 
statement.  In  a  communication  from  Koenigsberg 
on  the  situation  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  in  the  Deutsche 
Allgemeine  Zeitung  of  December  31,  1845,  the  writer 
says:  "Dr.  Lilienthal  himself,  who  sojourned  in 
St.  Petersburg  for  a  number  of  years  with  the  purpose 
of  promulgating  foreign  culture  in  Russia,  was  com- 
pelled to  emigrate  to  America,  when  he  recognized 
finally  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  achieve 

4  Hessen,  Die  russische  Regierung  und  die  westeuropaeische 
Juden,  33;  St.  Petersburg,  1913. 


164  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

any  real  results 'for  the  improvement  of  the  lot  of  his 
co-religionists  owing  to  the  repressive  laws  of  the 
country  and  when  the  attempt  was  made  to  persuade 
him  himself  to  become  converted  to  the  state  church"5 
A  statement  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  friend, 
Dr.  Ludwig  Philippson,  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the 
United  States  seems  to  bear  out  this  report;  the  open- 
ing paragraph  of  that  communication,  dated  Decem- 
ber 31,  1845,  reads:  "The  Lord  to  whom  I  sacrificed 
my  position  in  Russia,  for  whose  holy  name  I  sur- 
rendered livelihood,  honors  and  a  life  position,  He, 
the  Father  of  a'H7  to  whom  I  entrusted  my  fate,  and 
who  forsakes  none  who  trust  in  Him,  has  helped  me 
in  His  mercy  and  has  given  me  a  second  great  sphere 
of  activity."6 

A  writer  in  the  Jewish  periodical,  the  Orient,  had 
for  years  pursued  Lilienthal  with  bitter  diatribes  and 
base  insinuations,  among  them  being  the  outrageous 
charge  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  promulgation 
of  the  anti-Jewish  ukase,  inasmuch  as  he  did  not 
really  sympathize  with  the  Russian  Jews  but  was 
more  or  less  an  agent  of  the  government.  These 
statements  led  Philippson  to  affix  the  following 
editorial  comment  to  Lilienthal's  statement  quoted 
above:  "We  cannot  refrain  from  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  to  the  fact  that  this  letter  is  a  com- 
plete reply  to  the  shameless  invectives  which  a  Jewish 
newspaper  has  directed  for  years  at  Dr.  Lilienthal. 
Would  that  the  opportunity  were  always  at  hand  to 

8  Article  reproduced  in  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthunts, 
X,  p.  56. 

6  Ibid,  p.  98. 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  165 

prove  the  groundlessness  of  similar  slanders  in  so  short 
and  so  complete  a  manner." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  immediate  reason  for 
his  departure,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  had 
become  convinced  of  the  insincerity  of  the  Russian 
government  in  the  matter  of  the  welfare  of  the  Jews. 
True,  the  educational  system,  for  the  introduction  of 
which  he  had  labored  with  might  and  main,  was 
established  after  a  fashion,  but,  oh,  so  differently 
from  what  he  had  intended.  His  bright  dreams  for  a 
real  renaissance  among  Russian  Jews  vanished  into 
thin  air.  Thoroughly  disheartened  and  discouraged 
he  left  Russia  for  Munich  where  he  married  the  fine 
woman  to  whom  he  had  been  betrothed  many  years 
and  with  whom  he  left  for  the  United  States  where  he 
arrived  in  November,  1845,  shortly  after  he  had  at- 
tained his  thirtieth  year.  Though  so  young,  he  was 
one  of  the  best  known  Jewish  leaders  in  the  world. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  with  a  great  reputation. 
His  career  in  Russia  had  made  him  a  man  of  mark. 

In  appearance  Lilienthal  was  every  inch  the  leader; 
he  was  tall  and  stately  and  his  demeanor  gave  evidence 
of  the  courtly  surroundings  in  which  he  had  moved  for 
years.  A  man  of  culture  and  force,  he  soon  began 
to  make  his  influence  felt  in  his  new  home.  Leaders 
in  Jewry  were  few  in  the  United  States  in  those  days. 
Although  there  were  not  many  congregations,  still 
there  were  fewer  rabbis.  Religious  affairs  were  in  a 
chaotic  condition. 

Despite  the  unpromising  state  of  affairs  in  Jewish 
congregational  life,  Lilienthal  indulged  the  greatest 
hopes  for  the  Jew  and  Judaism  in  the  United  States 


166  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


from  the  very  moment  that  he  stepped  foot  upon 
these  shores.  One  of  the  dominating  features  of  his 
activity  was  his  love  of  America,  as  the  home  of 
religious  liberty  and  the  land  of  freedom.  He  was 
intense  in  this  and  time  and  again,  in  spoken  address 
and  written  word,  he  eulogized  the  American  spirit. 
This  was  due  possibly  to  his  Russian  career.  The 
contrast  in  his  own  experience  between  Russian 
despotism  and  American  liberty  was  so  great  that  it 
could  not  but  color  all  his  thoughts  and  acts.  He 
appreciated  to  the  full  all  that  America  represented 
for  humanity.  The  first  recorded  words  that  he 
wrote  from  the  United  States  indicate  this  clearly 
and  sound  the  first  clear  note  in  that  hymn  of  praise 
of  America  which  he  continued  intoning  to  the  very 
end  of  his  life.  In  a  letter  written  to  his  friend. 
Ludwig  Philippson,  very  shortly  after  his  arrival, 
he  says:  "My  fraternal  and  friendly  greetings  from 
New  York,  from  the  blessed  land  of  freedom,  the 
beautiful  soil  of  civic  equality!  Old  Europe  with  its 
restrictions  lies  behind  me  like  a  dream;  the  memory 
of  the  repellent  Judaeophobia  of  Russia  is  like  a 
distant  mirage;  the  frightful  images  of  oppression  and 
persecution  are  distant  from  the  harried  soul — I 
breathe  freely  once  more,  my  spirit  unfolds  its 
pinions  and  I  would  waft  exultingly  the  heartiest  kiss 
of  brotherhood  to  all  men  who  find  here  the  bond 
cf  union!  .  .  .  Oh,  it  is  necessary  that  you 
breathe  this  free  air  of  Columbia  in  order  that  you 
may  be  able  to  understand  the  pride  and  joy  of  her 
children;  you  must  have  shaken  off  the  centuried 
dust  of  the  old  Jewish  oppression  in  order  to  appre- 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  167 

ciate  to  the  full  the  feeling,  'I  am  a  man  like  every 
other';  you  must  see  here  our  Jewish  brethren,  the 
persecuted  emigrants  of  persecuting  Europe,  in 
order  to  become  convinced  how  worthily  the  Jew  co- 
operates with  his  Christian  brethren  here  .  .  ." 
He  was  elected  rabbi  by  three  congregations  of 
New  York,  and  was  styled  on  this  account  chief 
rabbi.  In  his  inaugural  sermon  he  expressed  his 
disapproval  of  the  innovations  introduced  by  the 
reform  rabbis  of  Germany.  In  his  first  official 
utterance  on  American  soil,  Lilienthal  took  his  stand 
on  the  basis  of  tradition,  but  he  stated  that  although 
he  would  keep  aloof  from  innovations,  he  would  aim 
at  securing  decorum  at  the  services.  Lilienthal's  later 
championing  of  reform  caused  him  to  be  accused  of 
inconsistency  owing  to  his  utterances  in  this  inaugural 
and  other  sermons  preached  in  New  York.  It  will 
be  well  to  make  this  matter  clear  at  the  outset. 
Although  he  thus  began  as  a  sympathizer  with  what  is 
known  as  orthodoxy,  still,  as  he  became  better 
acquainted  with  American  conditions,  he  recognized 
the  need  of  reform.  In  other  words,  he  grew  in  liberal 
religious  thought  as  the  years  advanced.  He  was  a 
conservative  reformer,  if  such  a  seemingly  paradoxical 
phrase  is  permissible,  to  the  end  of  his  life.  It  was  at 
first  his  belief  that  reforms  could  find  their  warrant 
in  the  Talmud,  and  he  wrote  copiously  to  this  effect 
although  later  he  abandoned  this  attempt.  As  time 
went  on  he  became  more  and  more  outspoken  in  his 
reform  position,  as  we  shall  see.  But  he  was  above 
all,  a  man  of  peace  and  in  the  many  bitter  contentions 
that  marred  the  relations  of  the  reform  leaders,  in 


168  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  third  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Lilienthal 
stood  out  as  the  peace-maker  who  attempted  to 
smooth  over  the  bitter  expressions  of  the  fiery  hot- 
spurs. His  motto  was  quiet  development  and  orderly 
progress. 

What  he  once  called  the  "gift  of  quiet,  though  by 
no  means  inactive,  looking  on,"  well  describes  his 
own  attitude,  notably  during  these  early  years. 
Though  unsympathetic  with  radical  measures,  he 
introduced,  almost  at  the  start,  such  reforms  as  he 
felt  were  necessary  to  make  a  religious  appeal  to  a 
generation  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  free  institutions. 
He  preached  regularly  in  German;  in  place  of  the 
hanoten  yeschuah,  the  prayer  composed  for  monarchial 
conditions,  he  substituted  a  new  prayer  appropriate 
to  the  republican  form  of  government.  He  organized 
a  choir  and  formed  a  confirmation  class;  this  was  the 
first  to  be  confirmed  in  the  United  States:  the  feast 
of  Shabuoth,  1846,  was  the  date  of  this  first  confirma- 
tion. In  speaking  of  these  reforms,  he  wrote :  "Thus 
I  hope,  with  God's  help,  to  place  our  young  congre- 
gations here,  in  all  things  that  touch  our  holy  religion, 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  best  organized  congre- 
gations in  the  old  woild."7 

However,  Lilienthal's  chief  work  in  America  was 
to  be  performed  not  in  New  York,  but  in  what  was 
then  a  far  western  city.  He  had  resigned  his  position 
as  rabbi  of  the  three  congregations  and  had  opened  a 
school  which  was  attended  by  boys  from  various 
cities  of  the  country,  Cincinnati  among  others.  When 
the  Bene  Israel  congregation  of  that  city  sought  a 
7  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums,  Ibid.  p.  289-90. 


MAX  LILIEXTHAL  169 


rabbi,  the  fathers  of  these  boys,  members  of  this  con- 
gregation, urged  the  selection  of  Dr.  Lilienthal.  He 
preached  his  inaugural  sermon  before  this  congrega- 
tion on  July  14,  1855.  The  final  stage  of  his  career 
opened  with  his  arrival  in  the  western  city.  He 
became  associated  here  with  Isaac  M.  Wise,  who  had 
come  to  the  city  a  year  previously.  Together  these 
two  great  leaders  toiled,  each  however,  in  his  own 
way,  for  they  were  far  different  in  disposition,, 
character  and  method.  Through  their  united  work 
in  the  cause  of  Judaism,  Cincinnati  secured  a  pre- 
eminent place  among  the  Jewish  communities  of  the 
country.  The  names  of  these  two  men  are  linked 
together  for  all  time  in  the  story  of  the  further  de- 
velopment of  Judaism  not  only  in  the  city  which 
became  their  home,  but  also  in  the  entire  country. 

As  rabbi  of  the  Bene  Israel  congregation,  Lilienthal 
unfolded  a  blessed  career  during  the  next  twenty-seven 
years.  Not  only  in  the  congregation,  but  in  the  city 
and  the  country  at  large  he  held  a  commanding  place. 

When  he  took  charge  of  the  congregation,  it  was 
orthodox  in  its  form  of  worship  and  in  its  practices. 
He  set  himself  at  once  to  the  task  of  introducing 
some  reforms  which  tended  to  make  the  service  more 
decorous.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Cincinnati, 
the  congregation  voted  to  abolish  the  sale  of  Milzwoth, 
the  reading  of  piyyutim  in  the  Sabbath  service,  as 
well  as  the  reading  of  the  sections  Ezehu  Mekamon, 
Bameh  madlikin  and  Pitum  hakkatoreth.  This  action 
aroused  the  bitter  opposition  of  a  section  of  the 
membership,  which  opposition  grew  during  the  follow- 
ing months  because  of  the  advocacy  by  the  rabbi  of 


170  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  necessity  of  moderate  reforms,  notably  of  such  a 
nature  as  would  appeal  to  the  rising  youth  born  and 
bred  in  the  free  American  environment.  Not  only 
from  the  pulpit  did  he  give  expression  to  these 
thoughts,  but  also  in  the  columns  of  the  Israelite,  in 
the  editing  of  which  he  was  associated  with  Isaac  M. 
Wise,  the  founder,  during  the  years  1855  and  1856. 

"Religion  and  life  must  be  reconciled,  is  the  supreme 
demand  of  our  times  and  the  just  issue  of  all  proposed 
reforms,"  he  wrote  at  this  period  of  his  career  and 
shortly  thereafter  in  a  similar  strain,  "Let  us  assist 
time  in  its  travail  for  the  birth  of  the  future.  Let  us 
prepare  and  foster  progress.  Let  us  remove  abuses 
by  enlightenment  and  instruction  and  an  impartial 
posterity  will  gratefully  acknowledge  our  sincere  and 
faithful  endeavors."8  The  irreconcilables  in  the 
congregation,  however,  were  not  to  be  won  over. 
The  climax  came  when  the  rabbi  refused  to  be  present 
at  the  service  on  Tisha  beab,  the  feast  commemorative 
of  the  destruction  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Mem- 
bers that  had  been  antagonizing  all  reforms  withdrew 
and  formed  the  She'erith  Israel  congregation.  Lilien- 
thal  based  his  refusal  to  participate  in  this  service  on 
the  ground  that  the  destruction  of  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  in  the  year  70,  with  the 
accompanying  loss  of  Jewish  nationality,  should  not 
be  observed  by  a  service  of  lamentation  and  fasting, 
for  this  catastrophe  was  really  providential,  inasmuch 
as  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  world  mission  of  the 
Jews.  The  loss  of  a  separate  Jewish  nationality  was 
the  necessary  preliminary  to  the  universal  Jewish 
8  Israelite,  III,  292. 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  171 


mission  in  all  portions  of  the  earth.  Throughout  his 
life  Lilienthal  remained  true  to  this  conception,  which 
is  in  fact  the  accepted  teaching  of  reform  Judaism. 
Time  and  again  he  reiterated  this  thought;  on  many 
important  occasions  he  stated  it;  the  two  greatest 
events  in  the  life  of  the  congregation  during  his 
service  were  the  dedication  of  the  new  temple  at 
Mound  and  Eighth  Streets  and  the  celebration  of  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  service  as  rabbi;  in 
his  dedication  sermon  he  used  these  words:  "We 
owe  no  longer  any  allegiance  to  Jerusalem,  save  the 
respect  all  enlightened  nations  pay  to  this  cradle  of  all 
civilizing  religions.  We  cherish  no  longer  any  desire 
for  a  return  to  Palestine,  but  proudly  and  gratefully 
exclaim  with  the  Psalmist,  'Here  is  my  resting  place; 
here  shall  I  reside;  for  I  love  this  place."9  In  the 
anniversary  address  he  emphasized  the  fact  that  the 
reform  congregations  had  eliminated  from  the  prayer 
book  "all  sentences  referring  to  a  return  to  Palestine, 
to  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  with  its  sacrifices,  re- 
ferring to  the  dark  times  of  persecution  and  mutual 
aversion",10  and  in  his  address  at  the  convention  of  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  held  in 
Washington  in  the  centennial  year  of  American 
Independence,  he  declared  that  "modern  Judaism 
does  neither  dream  nor  wish  to  return  to  Palestine; 
here  is  our  home;  here  our  fatherland.  Hence  we 
strike  from  all  bequeathed  prayer  books  any  line  that 
reminds  us  of  the  temple  and  sacrifices ;  we  know  that 
the  best  religion  is  humanity,  the  best  divine  service, 

9  Israelite,  XVI,  No.  10,  (September  3,  1868)  p.  8. 

10  Israelite,  XXVII,  No.  52. 


172  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself;  the  motto  which  we 
inscribe  on  our  banner  is  the  common  fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  common  brotherhood  of  man."11 

The  universalism  of  Judaism  formed  thus  the  burden 
of  his  preaching  and  his  teaching.  To  his  mind  the 
reform  movement  emphasized  this. 

Outside  of  the  congregation  Dr.  Lilienthal  performed 
yeoman's  service  for  the  cause  of  Judaism  at  large. 
He  was  a  prominent  figure  at  all  the  rabbinical  con- 
ferences held  in  this  country  during  his  lifetime. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Cincinnati,  a  call  was 
issued  for  a  conference  of  rabbis  at  Cleveland.  The 
conference  which  was  held  in  the  month  of  October, 
1855,  instead  of  becoming,  as  was  hoped,  the  bond  of 
union  for  all  the  rabbis,  resulted  in  most  unfortunate 
dissensions,  the  effect  of  which  lasted  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  The  statement  of  principles  adopted 
by  the  rabbis  at  Cleveland  called  forth  bitter  pro-tests 
from  the  Emanuel  congregation  of  New  York  'and 
the  Har  Sinai  congregation  of  Baltimore.  David 
Einhorn,  the  rabbi  of  the  latter  congregation,  who 
had  arrived  in  this  country  a  short  time  previously, 
was  the  moving  spirit  in  this  protest.  The  protests 
were  published  in  his  magazine,  Sinai,  and  he  himself 
arraigned  sharply  the  resolutions  adopted  at  the 
conference.  Opposition  was  voiced,  however,  not 
only  by  Einhorn,  the  radical  reformer,  but  also  by 
Isaac  Leeser,  the  foremost  orthodox  rabbi  of  the 
country.  Leeser,  who  had  at  first  expressed  himself 
favorably  concerning  the  plan  of  a  conference  of  all 
the  rabbis  of  the  country,  found  it  impossible,  after 
11  Ibid,  XXIII,  No.  2. 


MAX  LILIEXTHAL  173 

the  conference  had  taken  place,  to  endorse  what  was 
done  there  because  of  the  reforming  tendency  of  the 
men  at  Cleveland.  The  results  of  the  conference 
were,  therefore,  most  unfortunate.  Lilienthal,  who 
had  been  secretary  of  the  conference,  took  up  the 
gauntlet  thrown  down  by  Einhorn  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Leeser  on  the  other,  and  defended  the  work  of  the 
Cleveland  conference  in  the  columns  of  the  Israelite, 
of  which  he  was  the  associate  editor  at  the  time.  In 
an  article  entitled,  "The  Parties,"  he  characterized 
the  division  among  the  rabbis  as  uncompromising 
orthodoxy,  represented  by  "The  Occident;"  uncom- 
promising reform,  represented  by  "Sinai"  and  prac- 
tical possible  reform,  represented  by  "The  Israelite" 
and  the  Cleveland  conference.12 

In  another  article  entitled,  "Let  Us  Alone,"  he 
wrote  in  discouraged  strain  concerning  these  differ- 
ences, each  party  following  its  own  way  and  wishing 
neither  co-operation  nor  union.  Still,  he  is  not  alto- 
gether dismayed;  for  he  closes  with  the  words, 
"Let  us  not  despair.  The  golden  rays  of  eternal 
truth  soon  will  drive  away  the  intangible  shadows  of 
the  uneasy  twilight  and  out  of  the  present  dissension 
will  be  born  a  higher  state  of  peace  and  union!" 

This  hope  was  not  to  be  realized  for  many  years. 
Fourteen  years  elapsed  ere  the  reformers  of  the 
eastern  section  of  the  country  and  the  reformers  of 
the  west  met  together.  This  joint  meeting  took  place 
at  Philadelphia,  in  November,  1869,  when  Einhorn, 
Samuel  Hirsch,  Samuel  Adler,  and  other  rabbinical 
leaders  of  the  East,  met  together  with  Wise  and 
12  Israelite,  III,  No.  12,  p.  12. 


174  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Lilienthal  and  other  western  rabbis.  This  conference 
adopted  a  declaration  of  principles  in  which  all 
present  agreed.  Peace  seemed  to  have  settled  where 
there  had  been  discord.  But  it  was  not  a  lasting 
peace. 

Other  conferences  were  held  during  the  next  few 
years  in  Cleveland,  New  York,  and  Cincinnati;  but 
strenuous  as  were  the  efforts  put  forth  by  the  great 
conciliator  to  effect  peace,  these  did  not  prove  suc- 
cessful at  the  time.  However,  he  did  not  despair 
and  happily  he  succeeded  in  his  efforts  when,  upon 
his  initiative,  the  Rabbinical  Literary  Association 
was  formed  in  1879.  This  association  comprised 
within  its  membership  most  of  the  reform  rabbis  of 
the  country.  Lilienthal  was  its  president  from  the 
time  of  its  formation  to  the  day  of  his  death.  What 
importance  he  attached  to  this  achievement  appears 
from  his  reference  to  it  in  his  sermon  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement  following  its  organization,  when  he  said: 

"I  hope  it  (the  Rabbinical  Literary  Association) 
shall  be  the  crowning  point  of  the  years  I  have  spent 
in  my  holy  and  responsible  office.  The  rabbis  and 
ministers  of  our  whole  country  have  agreed  to  meet 
once  every  year,  earnestly  to  discuss  the  religious 
questions  and  to  give  their  opinions  and  decisions. 
It  is  not  the  work  of  a  day  or  a  year;  it  needs  earnest 
and  conscientious  study,  ample  investigation,  serious 
and  fraternal  discussions ;  and  with  the  assistance  of 
God  and  the  hearty  co-operation  of  our  co-religionists, 
we  hope  in  the  course  of  time  to  accomplish  a  noble 
and  holy  work." 

He  did,  indeed,  devote  much  time  and  attention 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  175 

to  the  association  which  met  annually  during  the 
remaining  short  period  of  his  life.  He  edited  the 
quarterly  journal  issued  by  the  association  under  the 
name,  The  Hebrew  Review.  He  published  a  number 
of  articles  in  this  review,  namely,  the  two  presidential 
addresses  and  the  articles,  "The  Jew  a  Riddle"  and 
"The  Blood  Covenant." 

The  Review  suspended  publication  after  his  death. 
Only  two  volumes  appeared.  In  speaking  of  his 
literary  work,  mention  must  be  made  also  of  several 
earlier  publications,  viz.:  his  translation  of  Hecht's 
Biblical  History13  and  his  volume  of  poems,  "Freiheit, 
Fruehling  und  Liebe",14  a  collection  of  beautiful 
lyrics  elevated  in  feeling,  noble  in  thought  and  choice 
in  expression.  Reference  must  also  be  made  to  his 
founding  of  the  Sabbath  Visitor,  the  first  paper  for 
Jewish  children  to  be  established  in  this  country. 
He  founded  this  journal  in  1874  and  edited  it  till 
the  day  of  his  death. 

He  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Isaac  M .  Wise 
in  the  latter's  great  work  of  founding  the  Union  of 
American  Hebrew  Congregations  and  the  Hebrew 
Union  College.  His  own  congregation  was  one 
of  the  very  first  to  join  the  Union  and  he  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Governors  and  of  the 
Faculty  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  from  the  days 
of  its  opening.  When  the  hopes  of  many  years  were 


13  Synopsis  of  the  History  of  the  Israelites  from  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Macedonian  to  the  Present  Age,  translated  from 
the  German  of  E.  Hecht — Enlarged  and  Improved  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Lilienthal,  Cincinnati,  1858. 

14  Cincinnati,  1857. 


176  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

realized  and  a  rabbinical  college  was  successfully 
established,  a  thanksgiving  service  to  mark  the 
event  was  held  at  the  Plum  Street  Temple,  in  Cin- 
cinnati. Dr.  Lilienthal  was  the  spokesman  for  the 
Board  of  Governors.  In  this  notable  address  he 
uttered  many  significant  words,  some  of  which  may 
be  reproduced: 

"We  could  have  adopted  the  plan  proposed  by 
several  good  men,  of  sending  those  who  wish  to  de- 
vote themselves  to  the  Jewish  ministry  to  Germany, 
where  the  master  minds  of  Jewish  theology  and  litera- 
ture are  diffusing  their  stores  of  learning  to  crowds 
of  Jewish  students,  and  where  Jewish  colleges  are 
already  fully  established,  thoroughly  organized,  and 
richly  endowed.  But  we  do  not  want  any  ministers 
reared  and  educated  under  the  influence  of  European 
institutions;  we  intend  to  have  ministers  reared  by 
our  glorious  American  institutions,  men  who  love  their 
country  above  all,  men  who  will  be  staunch  advocates 
of  such  civil  and  religious  liberty  as  the  men  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  understood  it, 
men  who  are  ready  to  defend  this  priceless  gem 
against  all  and  any  encroachments,  and  hence  we 
wish  to  keep  our  students  at  home  and  raise  them  as 
genuine  Americans  on  the  virgin  soil  of  American 
liberty." 

The  American  note  which  is  struck  in  this  address 
was  predominant  in  all  his  teaching  and  preaching, 
yes,  in  all  his  activity.  Never  was  there  a  man  more 
devoted  in  his  love  of  America  and  all  that  this  country 
represents-  than  was  Max  Lilienthal.  This  was  a 
passion  with  him.  He  abhorred  every  form  and 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  177 


expression  of  intolerance  whether  religious  or  civil; 
he  was  an  American  of  the  Americans,  even  though 
of  German  birth;  time  and  time  again  he  gave  ex- 
pression to  his  deep  feelings  and  convictions  on  the 
subject  of  religious  liberty.  He  never  minced  his 
words  when  the  occasion  arose  to  denounce  move- 
ments that  aimed  at  a  union  of  church  and  state,  at 
Christianizing  this  country  or  the  public  schools. 
He  was  as  a  watchman  on  the  tower  of  liberty,  calling 
attention  to  dangers  that  threatened  this  precious 
stronghold.  Intense  in  his  Judaism  on  the  one  hand, 
and  his  Americanism  on  the  other,  he  embodied  the 
loftiest  type  of  the  American  Jew.  The  service  that 
he  accomplished  in  making  clear  the  attitude  of  the 
American  Jew  was  great.  In  his  day,  as  unfortunately 
is  the  case  still  now,  there  were  many  who  considered 
the  Jew  an  alien;  he  made  very  clear  in  spoken  dis- 
course and  written  word  that  in  all  things  except 
his  religion,  the  Jew  was  the  same  as  his  Christian 
fellow  citizen ;  that  he  is  actuated  by  the  same  love  of 
country,  the  same  enthusiasm  for  American  ideals; 
that  America  is  his  fatherland  which  he  loves  as  he 
does  his  home.  Therefore,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out,  he  took  pains  to  declare  so  frequently 
that  Palestine,  precious  though  it  be  as  a  memory,  is 
no  longer  the  fatherland  of  the  Jew;  I  believe  that  it 
may  be  said  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  had  he 
lived  to  see  the  day  of  the  birth  of  the  Zionistic  move- 
ment whose  program  is  the  re-establishment  of  a 
Jewish  state  in  Palestine,  he  would  have  opposed  and 
fought  this  with  all  his  might;  for  his  whole  life  had 
been  devoted  to  teaching  just  the  contrary;  he  con- 


178  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

sidered  the  Palestinian  period  of  Jewish  history  the 
preparatory  stage  for  the  larger  life  of  Judaism 
throughout  the  world;  he  looked  upon  the  dispersion 
as  ordained  by  Providence  and,  in  the  modern  era  of 
freedom  and  emancipation,  notably  as  achieved  in 
the  United  States,  he  recognized  the  beginning  of  the 
fulfillment  of  the  high  hopes  of  the  seers  for  the 
coming  of  the  day  of  the  realization  among  men 
of  the  belief  in  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
common  brotherhood  of  men.  He  was  a  true  prophet 
of  humanity,  a  real  worker  for  peace,  goodwill  and 
fellowship  among  all  men  of  whatever  origin  or 
belief,  whatever  race  or  creed.  Because  America 
to  his  mind  symbolized  this  high  doctrine,  he  was  so 
jealous  of  America's  honor  as  the  home  of  true  liberty 
in  its  every  sense,  so  proud  of  his  American  citizenship 
and  so  appreciative  of  his  American  opportunities. 

For  him  there  could  be  no  question  concerning  the 
loyalty  of  the  Jew  to  his  country;  the  statement  made 
in  his  address  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the 
Mound  Street  Temple,  Cincinnati,  and  repeated  sev- 
eral years  later  in  a  Thanksgiving  sermon  on  Nov- 
ember 24,  1870,  caused  quite  a  sensation  because  it 
put  the  matter  in  question  in  so  blunt  a  fashion.  He 
said: 

"Let  us,  then,  be  proud  of  our  country,  our  flag, 
our  institutions  and  our  name.  Let  us  give  sincere 
thanks  that  we  all,  native  and  adopted  citizens,  can 
join  in  one  grand  chorus  of  praise  and  exultation. 
Let  us  promise  to-day,  first  and  above  all,  we  will 
be  and  remain  Americans  in  sentiment,  word  and  deed! 
First  Americans  and  then  Jews,  Catholics,  Protestants 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  179 

or  members  of  whatever  denomination  any  man  may 
choose,  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience!"15 

Without  doubt  this  closing  paragraph,  "First 
Americans,  and  then  Jews,  Protestants,  Catholics 
etc.,"  the  paragraph  which  caused  the  excited  com- 
ment, was  inspired  by  the  agitation  aroused  at  that 
time  by  various  movements  in  the  country;  the 
Vatican  Council  of  1869,  which  set  its  seal  on  the 
doctrine  of  papal  infallibility  had  brought  to  the  fore 
the  question  of  the  priority  of  Catholic  allegiance, 
whether  to  the  authority  of  the  pope  or  the  country. 
Protestant  sectaries  were  doing  all  they  could  to  have 
the  Protestant  religion  recognized  as  the  religion  of 
the  government;  if  not  so  recognized,  to  whom,  then, 
was  the  Protestant's  allegiance  due  in  the  first  in- 
stance, the  Church  or  the  State?  Without  doubt 
it  was  the  discussions  of  the  day  that  caused  the 
great  American  rabbi  to  express  himself  as  unequivoc- 
ally as  he  did  upon  this  subject. 

In  season  and  out  of  season  he  insisted  that  all 
should  have  the  right  to  believe  as  they  would  and 
none  should  be  interfered  with  in  the  pursuance  of 
that  right.  In  accordance  with  this  conviction,  he 
formulated  his  definition  of  the  American  Jew,  "In 
creed  a  monotheist,  in  descent  a  Hebrew,  Israelite  or 
Jew,  in  all  other  public  or  private  relations,  an 
American  Citizen."16  Therefore  at  the  dedication 
of  the  Mound  Street  Temple,  as  spokesman  for  his 
congregation  and  all  American  Jews  who  believed 
with  him,  he  stated  the  political  creed  of  the  American 

18  Israelite,  XVII,  Dec.  2,  1870,  p.  8. 

16  Jewish  Times,  (New  York)Dec.  1C,  1869,  p.  5. 


180 


Jew  thus  exaltedly:  "We  are  promising  to-day  in  a 
body  that  forever  we  shall  remain  true  to  the  sublime 
spirit  of  our  constitution  as  it  stands  and  reads.  We 
shall  spare  no  effort  to  maintain  the  free  and  glorious 
institutions  of  our  country.  In  a  body  we  shall 
resist  the  encroachment  of  any  denomination  on  the 
rights  and  titles  of  the  modern  state  and  society  .  .  . 
Earnestly  and  sincerely  we  promise  unanimously  to 
support  any  measure  intended  to  strengthen  the  in- 
stitutions bequeathed  unto  us  by  the  noble  spirit  of 
the  fathers  of  this  land,  which  enjoins  upon  every 
citizen  as  a  supreme  duty  to  live  together  as  brethren 
indeed  and  to  foster  that  spirit  of  toleration  by  which 
every  creed  being  treated  by  all  with  unprejudiced 
and  mutual  regard,  the  glory  of  our  land  will  be 
enhanced  all  over  the  world." 

I  wish  I  had  the  time  to  present  at  length  his 
remarkable  service  in  the  matter  of  loyalty  to  the 
American  principle  of  the  separation  of  Church  and 
State.  He  spoke  ever  and  always  in  no  uncertain 
terms  when  attempts  were  made  either  by  Catholics 
or  Protestants  to  endanger  this  fundamental  prin- 
ciple. In  the  year  1870,  a  Protestant  ministers'  con- 
ference determined  to  petition  Congress  to  insert 
the  name  of  God  in  the  constitution  and  to  delcare 
this  a  Christian  nation.  As  a  result  this  vigilant 
champion  of  American  principles  preached  a  sermon 
on  the  subject,  "God,  Religion  and  our  American 
Constitution."  Perhaps  the  argument  against  the 
proposition  that  this  is  a  Christian  country  has  never 
been  more  cogently  put  than  in  this  sermon,  so  that 
the  portion  especially  pertinent  to  the  subject  in  hand 
may  be  quoted.  The  preacher  began  by  asking: 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  181 

"What  do  the  reverend  gentlemen  mean  and  intend 
by  inserting  the  name  of  God  into  our  Constitution? 
Was  the  Almighty  ruler  of  all  nations  less  God  and 
Father  because  His  holy  name  was  not  mentioned 
in  that  holy  instrument?  Was  he  less  worshipped, 
less  revered  and  adored  by  the  American  people, 
because  the  Fathers  of  1776  wisely  refrained  from 
meddling  with  religious  matters? 

"Yes,  what  do  they  mean  and  intend,  by  trying  to 
declare  by  a  new  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  this 
nation  to  be  a  Christian  nation?  *  *  * 

"What  kind  of  a  Christian  nation  shall  this  people 
be,  according  to  the  desire  of  these  reverend  gentle- 
men, a  Catholic  or  a  Protestant  one?  Which  one? 
These  gentlemen  do  not  come  out  in  their  true  colors ; 
they,  of  course,  mean  a  Protestant  Christian  nation. 
They  have  as  yet  too  much  genuine  regard  for  the 
American  spirit  of  religious  liberty  that  they  shall  come 
forward  and  declare,  'We  mean  a  Protestant  Christian 
nation.'  But  do  not  they  by  this  assertion  throw 
down  the  gauntlet  to  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
ever  increases  in  power  and  challenge  her  to  a  deadly 
combat?  Or  do  they  presume  to  avert  by  such 
a  declaration  the  dangers  they  fear  from  the  evei 
increasing  influence  of  the  Catholic  clergy?  Do  they 
pretend  to  put  a  check  on  the  formidable  growth  of 
that  Church  by  adding  such  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution? 

They  will  accomplish  thereby  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other.  They  will  only  add  fuel  to  the  threatening 
fire  and  put  the  denominational  antagonists  into  a 
well-defined  array;  they  will  thereby  only  drill  and 


182  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


prepare  them  for  a  contest  which  by  such  agitations 
will  rather  be  accelerated  than  avoided." 

Before  I  dismiss  the  discussion  of  this  phase  of  his 
activity,  reference  must  be  made  to  the  famous  Cin- 
cinnati "Bible  in  the  schools"  case. 

The  Cincinnati  school  board  had  resolved  that  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  should  be 
dispensed  with.  A  citizen  brought  suit  in  the  courts 
against  the  school  board.  The  courts  finally  sus- 
tained the  Board.  While  the  case  was  being  tried, 
great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  community  and  the 
attention  of  the  entire  country  was  fastened  upon  the 
Cincinnati  episode.  In  that  city  itself  passion  ran 
high.  Public  meetings  were  held  by  both  the  friends 
and  the  opponents  of  the  school  board.  As  may 
well  be  supposed,  among  the  most  active  spuporters 
of  the  school  board  was  Dr.  Lilienthal,  for  whom  the 
question  of  Bible  reading  in  the  public  schools  was 
part  and  parcel  of  the  larger  issue  of  the  union  of 
Church  and  State.  Little  wonder,  therefore,  that 
he  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  for  keeping 
the  public  schools  free  from  all  church  affiliation. 
He  recognized  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the 
schools  was  merely  the  opening  wedge  for  the  protes- 
tantizing of  the  schools.  In  an  address  delivered  at 
Mozart  Hall,  March  30,  1870,  during  the  exciting 
interim  that  elapsed  after  the  Superior  Court  had 
decided  against  the  School  Board  and  the  case  was 
pending  in  the  supreme  Court  of  the  State  to  which 
the  School  Board  carried  it  and  where  the  decision 
sustaining  the  Board  in  its  right  to  suspend  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  schools  was  ultimately  rendered,  the 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  183 

rabbi  whose  words  carried  great  weight  in  the  com- 
munity said  pointedly: 

"The  Catholics  denounce  the  public  schools  as 
godless  and  the  hotbed  of  every  vice  and  apply  every 
opprobrious  epithet  to  them.  They  demand  a  divi- 
sion of  the  school  fund.  What  is  to  be  done?  Sec- 
tarianism must  be  removed  from  the  schools,  in  order 
that  there  may  be  no  just  ground  left  for  this  demand. 
But  look  to  the  Protestant  side.  The  Protestants 
come  now  and  say  defiantly  that  this  is  a  Protestant 
country.  When  I  left  Europe  I  came  to  this  country 
because  I  believed  it  to  be  free,  the  God -blessed 
country  of  all  the  world. 

"One  one  side  of  this  controversy  are  the  Protestants, 
and  on  the  other  are  the  Catholics.  Where  in  heaven's 
name  are  the  Americans?  Of  course,  the  answer 
from  the  Protestants  will  be,  'We  Protestants  are  the 
Americans,  and  we  Americans  are  Protestants.'  I 
do  not  propose  to  answer  the  question  myself,  but 
instead  will  read  from  a  letter  written  by  Washington 
in  May,  1789,  adressed  to  the  United  Baptist  Churches 
of  Virginia:  "If  I  could  have  entertained  the 
slightest  apprehension  that  the  Constitution  framed 
in  convention  where  I  had  the  honor  to  preside, 
might  possibly  injure  the  rights  of  any  ecclesiastical 
society,  certainly  I  would  never  have  placed  my 
signature  to  it;  and  if  I  could  now  conceive  that  the 
General  Government  might  ever  be  so  administered 
as  to  render  the  liberty  of  conscience  insecure,  I 
beg  you  will  be  persuaded  that  no  one  would  be  more 
zealous  than  myself  to  establish  effectual  barriers 
against  the  horrors  of  spiritual  tyranny  and  every 


184  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


species  of  religious  persecution,  for  you  doubtless 
remember  that  I  have  often  expressed  my  sentiments 
that. every  man  conducting  himself  as  a  citizen  and 
being  accountable  to  God  alone  for  his  religious 
opinions,  ought  to  be  protected  in  worshipping  the 
Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience." 

"So  wrote  Washington.  Are  we  better  than  he 
was?  Are  we  wiser  than  he  was?  Obstinacy  is  no 
wisdom,  bigotry  is  no  justice,  fanaticism  is  no  right- 
eousness, and  any  one  who  unfolds  these  banners  will 
ruin  this  glorious  country." 

And  as  a  final  word,  let  me  quote  the  platform 
which  he  laid  down  for  the  Jews  in  this  matter: 

1.  "Bible  or  no  Bible,  our  children  will  visit  the 
public  schools.     Our  Sabbath  schools  and  synagogues 
give  us  ample  room  and  time  to  impart  to  them  the 
required  religious  instruction. 

2.  No  division  of  the  school  fund,  no  matter  under 
what  pretext  it  may  be  demanded. 

3.  Not  a  single  penny  out  of  the  public  funds  for 
the  support  of  any  sectarian  institution,  be  it  for 
charital  le  or  educational  purposes. 

4.  No  union    of    State    and   Church  under  any 
shape  and  form  whatsoever. 

These  principles  will  save  the  Union  and  restore 
the  denominational  peace  we  have  heretofore  enjoyed 
and  which  we  hope  will  be  continued  for  ever  more 
on  the  virgin  soil  of  American  happiness  and  liberty."17 

Thus  bravely,  fearlessly  and  constantly  did  this 
true  American  patriot  contend  for  the  principles  to 
which  he  was  devoted  with  all  his  heart  and  soul. 
17  Jewish  Times,  1870,  pp.  118  and  213. 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  185 


Advocate  of  peace  among  all  men  and  notably  among 
the  followers  of  the  various  religious  denominations 
though  he  was,  yet  he  never  permitted  his  desire  for 
peace  to  becloud  the  issue  when  underlying  principles 
of  liberty  were  at  stake.  And  his  great  services  in 
this  cause  will  never  be  forgotten. 

Despite  this  firm  and  uncompromising  attitude 
against  both  Protestant  and  Catholic  sectarians,  Dr. 
Lilienthal  was  a  veritable  messenger  of  peace  in 
advancing  the  cause  of  fellowship  among  the  various 
denominations.  Never  has  there  been  a  man  in  the 
American  Jewish  pulpit  who  has  performed  finer 
service  in  this  regard.  He  preached  frequently  from 
Christian  pulpits.  He  delivered,  too,  the  address  at 
the  Fair  for  the  raising  of  funds  for  the  Catholic 
institution,  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital.  Thus  he 
contributed  wonderfully  towards  creating  a  sentiment 
of  goodwill  amongthe  followers  of  all  religious  denomi- 
nations in  the  city.  Dr.  Wise  summed  up  this  service 
in  a  beautiful  tribute  to  his  friend  on  the  occasion  of 
the  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
latter 's  service  as  rabbi  of  his  congregation,  when  he 
said: 

"There  are,  I  have  no  doubt,  many  persons  within 
hearing  distance,  who  recollect  the  various  prejudices 
which  existed  also  in  this  enlightened  city  between 
Jew  and  Gentile.  It  is  not  the  will  of  God,  who  is  the 
common  Father  of  all ;  it  is  not  the  teaching  of  Judaism, 
with  its  great  law  of  'Love  they  neighbor  as  thyself,' 
that  such  prejudices  and  dissensions  and  mutual 
distrust  should  exist  among  good  people;  and  by  the 
will  of  God,  and  let  me  add,  by  the  beneficent  in- 


186  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

fluence  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal,  most  of  these  prejudices 
were  eradicated  in  this  city.  'How  beautiful  upon 
the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  publisheth 
peace.'  He  approached  priest  and  layman,  Christian 
and  infidel,  church  and  society  with  the  palm  branch 
of  peace,  soothed  and  calmed  agitated  minds,  carried 
light  into  obscure  recesses  and  good  will  into  many 
hearts.  Therefore,  to  a  great  extent  we  enjoy  here 
this  peace  and  mutual  respect,  this  good  understanding 
between  Jew  and  Gentile,  which  is  our  pride  and  satis- 
faction, and  for  which  we  are  largely  indebted  to  the 
man  of  whom  we  say,  'Thou  art  peace,'  therefore, 
'thy'house  is  peace.'  ' 

Dr.  Lilienthal  then  was  animated  throughout  his 
life  by  the  peace  motive.  He  had  a  fine  knowledge  of 
men.  He  knew  that  in  life  there  must  be  give  and  take 
if  anything  is  to  be  accomplished.  This  was  the 
statesmanlike  quality  in  his  make-uo.  He  felt  that 
men  had  to  be  taken  as  they  are,  not  as  he  would 
have  had  them  be.  For  this  reason  those  who  did 
not  understand  him,  accused  him  of  comprcmising, 
of  hyprocrisy  and  of  time  serving.  When,  in  Russia, 
in  his  desire  to  gain  the  support  of  the  ultra-orthodox 
Je\vs  and  of  the  Chassidim  for  the  high  aim  towards 
which  he  was  striving,  he  observed  rites  and  customs 
with  which  he  was  known  to  be  at  variance  in  his 
thought,  he  was  denounced  as  a  hyprocrite  by  his 
enemies;  but  the  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  he 
considered  such  a  concession  as  of  slight  importance 
when  compared  with  the  large  end  in  view,  namely, 
the  obtaining  of  the  sympathy  of  this  great  section  of 
Russian  Jewry  for  the  educational  work  proposed. 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  187 

So  also  time  and  again  in  this  country,  he  was  accused 
of  being  a  compromiser,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the 
reformers  who  made  a  fetich  of  consistency,  and  on 
the  other,  by  orthodox  irreconcilables  who  would  not 
have  a  jot  or  tittle  of  inherited  ceremonies  and  customs 
changed.  Being  a  man  of  great  insight  and  wisdom,  he 
recognized  that  practical  reforms  can  be  accomplished 
effectively  by  an  accommodation  to  the  changing 
circumstances  of  time  and  place.  He  knew  full  well 
that  neither  life  nor  history  move  in  a  straight  line 
and  that  the  greatest  victories  for  progress  are  fre- 
quently gained  by  a  rounding  of  difficulties  and  ob- 
stacles by  circuitous  routes.  But,  when  a  matter  of 
real  principle  was  involved,  he  showed  time  and  again 
that  he  could  be  firm  as  a  rock;  his  departure  from 
Russia,  relinquishing  a  great  future  proved  this  to  the 
full;  his  defense  of  the  reform  movement  against 
his  doughty  antagonist,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Leeser,  and 
his  constant  struggle  as  detailed  in  the  preceding 
pages  against  the  forces  of  religious  bigotry  in  their 
onslaught  on  the  integrity  of  American  institutions 
bear  testimony  to  his  consistency  when  high  principle 
was  at  stake. 

Throughout  his  career  he  aimed  to  smooth  the  rough 
waters  of  controversy  and  dissension.  For  this 
reason  he  was  called  so  frequently  even  during  his 
lifetime,  the  prince  of  peace.  He  was  distressed  by 
the  factious  differences  that  divided  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry  into  warring  groups.  He  used  his  best 
offices  to  remove  these  differences.  More  than  this 
could  no  man  do.  He  was  truly  one  of  the  disciples 
of  Aaron,  loving  peace  and  pursuing  peace. 


188  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

For  thirty-seven  years  he  worked  in  this  spirit  of 
peace  and  reconciliation  in  the  land  of  his  love  and 
adoption.  This  is  his  greatest  claim  to  fame  and  to 
the  gratitude  of  his  co-religionists  and  his  fellow 
countrymen. 

When  the  last  hour  of  his  earthly  life  struck  on  the 
fifth  day  of  April  in  the  year  1882,  his  place  in  Ameri- 
can Jewry's  hall  of  fame  was  secure.  As  Jewish 
leader  and  as  American  patriot  he  had  toiled  untiringly 
and  unselfishly.  He  had  spoken  golden  words  of 
eternal  truth  on  many  an  important  occasion.  In 
appearance  every  inch  the  leader,  he  had  gone  in  and 
out  among  his  people,  a  messenger  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts.  Four  weeks  after  his  demise,  a  service  was 
held  in  the  religious  home  he  loved  so  well,  the 
temple  of  the  congregation,  at  which  sincere  tributes 
of  appreciation  were  spoken  by  his  life-long  friend  and 
co-worker,  Isaac  M.  Wise,  and  other  leaders  in 
American  Jewry,  Rabbis  Henry  S.  Jacobs  of  New 
York  and  Jacob  Voorsanger,  lately  of  San  Francisco, 
as  well  as  by  two  of  Ohio's  greatest  citizens,  General 
Jacob  D.  Cox  and  Judge  J-.  B.  Stallo.  The  eloquent 
words  with  which  the  latter  closed  his  oration  charac- 
terize finely  the  outlook  of  the  lofty  spirit  whom  he 
was  eulogizing.  "His  longing  was  for  the  future,  not 
for  the  past.  Forward  and  upward  was  his  motto. 
His  Messiah  was  not  a  single  man  but  reason  and  its 
fine  effects.  His  promised  country  was  not  one 
narrow  speck  of  earth,  but  the  whole  broad  universe. 
His  brethren  were  not  only  those  to  whose  race  he 
belonged;  every  one  who  furthered  the  aims  of 
humanity  was  his  brother  and  friend.  It  is  in  this 


MAX  LILIENTHAL  189 

sense  that  we  meet  here,  one  great  brotherhood,  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  a  dearly  beloved  brother.  I  can 
best  close  with  the  fervent  hope  that  his  spirit  may 
continue  in  his  people  forever  and  aye.  Then  will  be 
verified  the  words  of  Goethe  in  his  Tasso  that  "the 
place  where  a  great  man  has  lived  remains  a  fruitful 
seed  for  all  generations." 

One  hundred  years  have  passed  since  Max  Lilienthal 
first  saw  the  light  of  day.  During  that  century  the 
spirit  of  freedom  has  won  great  victories.  Despite  oc- 
casional relapses  the  progress  achieved  in  the  cause 
of  liberty  is  very  marked.  Freedom  was  the  breath 
of  Lilienthal's  nostrils.  He  was  a  true  apostle  of 
liberty.  Aristocratic  in  thought  and  bearing,  he  was 
democratic  in  life  and  principle.  America  em- 
bodied for  him  the  hope  of  humanity.  The  up- 
holding of  American  principles  was  a  passion  with 
him.  American  Judaism,  combining  loyalty  to  the 
high  teachings  of  Judaism  with  fealty  to  the  basic 
institutions  of  American  liberty  and  the  high  hopes  for 
a  united  humanity,  represented  for  him  the  flower  of 
the  endeavor  of  the  ages.  In  inspired  mood  he  at 
one  time  defined  this  ideal  in  words  which  glow  with 
loyalty  to  a  great  past  and  hope  for  a  glorious  future. 

"Resting  with  its  roots  in  deep  antiquity,"  so  run 
his  words,  "it  still  branches  forth  like  a  sound, 
healthy  oak  tree.  It  tries  to  adapt  itself  to  the 
advanced  ideas  of  the  age,  to  become  reconciled  with 
the  results  of  science,  and,  without  surrendering  its 
special  characteristics,  to  preach  humanity  instead 
of  racial  antipathy,  reason  instead  of  blind  faith,  the 
living  spirit  instead  of  the  dead  letter. 


190  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

"It  has  inscribed  on  its  banner  the  glorious  words 
of  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  common 
Brotherhood  of  Man  and  believes,  in  hoc  signo  vinces. 
With  Catholic  and  Protestant,  with  Mohammedan 
and  Buddhist,  it  hopes  and  waits  for  that  kingdom 
of  heaven  on  earth  in  which  the  redemption  of  the 
human  family  will  become  a  blessed  reality  so  that 
virtue  and  justice  and  unsectarian  brotherly  love 
may  reign  supreme,  and  evil  and  hatred  may  be 
numbered  among  the  things  of  the  past." 


THE  PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  OF 
THE  CENTRAL  CONFERENCE  OF 
AMERICAN  RABBIS* 

THE  great  changes  wrought  in  the  existence  of 
the  Jews  by  the  gradual  emancipation  from 
civil  and  political  disabilities  in  the  lands  of  western 
Europe  in  what  is  known  as  the  modern  era,  dating 
from  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were  accom- 
panied by  similar  marked  changes  in  the  inner  cultural 
and  religious  life.  Political  emancipation,  industrial 
freedom  and  educational  opportunities  with  the  result- 
ant enlarged  outlook  upon  life  were  accompanied  neces- 
sarily by  a  spirit  of  impatience  with  inherited  religious 
viewpoints  and  practices.  The  right  of  the  individual 
conscience  asserted  itself  strongly  and  the  clashes 
between  authority  as  embodied  in  the  accumulated 
traditions  of  the  past  and  individualism  as  defining 
the  freedom  of  the  present,  became  sharp  and  constant. 
The  authority  of  the  religious  code  which  the  medieval 
ghetto  Jew  accepted  unquestioningly  was  superseded 
in  many  quarters  by  a  radical  individualism  which 
set  all  religious  authority  at  naught.  The  body  of 
authority  was  broken  up.  It  was,  however,  not  only 
the  authority  of  the  code  or  Schulchan  Arukh,  which 
was  the  bond  of  union  among  the  Jews  of  medieval 
Europe.  Besides  this  bond  of  a  common  religious 
authority,  there  was  also  the  bond  of  a  common  suffer- 

*Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  Address  at  meeting  of  Central 
Conference  of  American  Rabbis,  July  3,  1913,  at  Detroit,  Mich. 

191 


192  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

ing  in  the  same  cause  and  the  bond  of  a  common  hope, 
namely,  the  realization  of  the  dream  of  the  return  to 
Palestine  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  Jewish  state 
as  the  consummation  of  Israel's  mission.  This  triple 
bond,  a  common  religious  authority,  the  code,  a 
common  lot  of  present  suffering  and  disability  and  a 
common  hope  for  the  future,  account  sufficiently  for 
the  union  of  the  Jewish  communities,  however  widely 
separated.  The  emancipation  of  the  modern  era 
shattered  this  triple  bond.  The  movement  for  re- 
ligious reform  which  resulted  from  political  and  edu- 
cational emancipation,  and  whose  aim  was  to  adjust 
the  religious  views  and  practices  to  the  new  outlook 
of  the  Jew  freed  from  the  ghetto  and  all  that  it 
implied,  undermined  the  authority  of  the  Schulchan 
Arukh.  The  newly  acquired  freedom  which  arrested 
medieval  persecution  and  aroused  the  hope  for  the 
gradual  disappearance  of  the  Jewish  misere  weakened 
the  second  former  bond  of  union,  namely,  the  suffer- 
ing in  a  common  cause,  and  the  surrender  of  the  ancient 
hope  of  the  return  to  Palestine  and  the  substitution 
therefor  of  the  universal  belief  in  the  coming  of  a 
Messianic  Age  for  all  humanity  loosened  the  third 
bond  which  had  united  all  Jews  formerly.  Where 
then,  European  Jewry,  however  widely  scattered,  had 
been  practically  one  and  united  during  the  centuries  of 
oppression;  now  that  the  Jews  were  gaining  the  rights 
of  men  and  citizens,  there  seemed  to  be  no  authority 
which  was  respected,  no  bond  which  joined  them  to 
one  another.  Notably  was  this  true  as  far  as  Jewish 
life  as  such  was  concerned.  Ritual  and  practice, 
ceremonies  and  forms,  customs  and  beliefs,  concerning 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  193 

which  there  had  been  no  question,  were  challenged 
and  disob served.  There  was  almost  a  condition  of 
religious  anarchy  in  the  early  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  religious  leaders  were  sadly  at  variance 
with  one  another.  They  ran  the  gamut  from  the 
extremest  orthodoxy  of  a  Solomon  Eger  and  a  Solomon 
Abraham  Tiktin,  championing  the  authority  of  the 
Schulchan  Arukh  in  its  each  and  every  command  to  the 
uncompromising  radicalism  of  a  Samuel  Holdheim 
and  a  Mendel  Hess,  who  had  no  appreciation  what- 
soever of  the  compelling  power  of  the  historic  spirit. 
The  people  were  sadly  puzzled.  Was  there  no  way 
out  of  this  disorganization  which  was  so  painfully 
apparent?  The  exigencies  cf  the  new  life  for  a  re- 
interpretation  and  reweighing  of  Jewish  values  in  the 
light  of  the  new  conditions  cried  aloud  for  some  satis- 
faction. The  reconciling  of  inherited  tradition  with 
present  needs  demanded  consideration.  This  was, 
of  course,  the  case  only  in  those  communities  that 
had  been  touched  by  the  modern  spirit,  notably, 
Germany,  France  and  England,  but  particularly 
Germany.  Here  the  anarchic  disorganization  filled 
with  alarm  observant  men,  both  in  the  rabbinical 
office  and  in  the  congregations.  It  was  felt  by  such 
that  some  steps  must  be  taken  to  stem  this  dis- 
organization and  to  bring  harmony  out  of  this  chaos. 
For  this  reason  Abraham  Geiger,  while  rabbi  in 
Wiesbaden,  issued  a  call  in  1837  for  a  meeting  of 
rabbis  that  they  might  confer  together  on  the 
present  state  of  Judaism  in  Germany,  discuss  ques- 
tions of  the  hour  and  come  to  conclusions  which  might 
be  accepted  by  the  people  as  the  deliberate  judgment 


194  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


of  the  religious  leaders.  This  was  the  first  attempt 
at  a  rabbinical  conference  in  modern  days.  Little 
of  note,  beyond  the  mapping  out  of  work  to  be  done, 
was  accomplished.  But  Geiger  showed  the  way  and 
the  Wiesbaden  Conference,  though  small  and  fruitless 
of  practical  results,  was  the  lantern  bearer  that 
pointed  the  path  to  all  the  future  attempts  at  bringing 
union  and  organization  into  the  confused  and  dis- 
tracted religious  affairs  of  Jewry  in  the  modern  world. 
When  seven  years  later,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1844,  Ludwig  Philippson,  who  beyond  all  the 
celebrated  Rabbis  of  that  day  had  the  gift  of  organiza- 
tion, issued  a  call  in  the  colLmns  of  his  newspaper, 
Die  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums,  for  a  rab- 
binical conference,  the  hearty  response  to  the  call 
showed  that  Geiger's  first  attempt  had  borne  fruit. 
The  Rabbis  who  met  at  Brunswick  in  response  to 
Philippson 's  call  were  clearly  conscious  of  the  situ- 
ation they  had  to  meet.  When  they  declared  that 

"The  rabbinical  conferences  shall  have  as  their  purpose 
that  the  members  shall  take  counsel  together  in  order  to 
determine  by  what  means  the  preservation  and  development 
of  Judaism  and  the  enlivening  of  the  religious  consciousness 
can  be  accomplished," 

they  stated  the  purpose  of  such  gatherings  finely. 
The  rabbinical  conferences  were  to  arrogate  to  them- 
selves no  authority  over  the  religious  conscience  of 
the  individual;  they  claimed  no  synodical  or  ecclesi- 
astical authority  to  loose  or  to  bind:  they  were  to  be 
deliberative  bodies  where  many  men  of  many  minds 
were  to  discuss  the  many  disputed  points  of  religious 
belief  and  practice  from  all  possible  angles  and  to  at- 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  195 

tempt  to  arrive  at  some  conclusion,  if  not  unanimous, 
at  least  reflecting  the  view  of  the  majoiity;  it  was  felt 
that  such  conclusions,  although  not  authoritative  in 
the  sense  that  the  conference  had  any  power  to  compel 
the  acceptance  thereof  by  individuals  and  congrega- 
tions, would  yet  be  considered  authoritative  because 
they  were  the  decisions  arrived  at  by  men  of  learning, 
of  light  and  of  leading;  it  was  hoped  that  the  con- 
ferences would  secure  the  confidence  of  the  congre- 
gations and  would  gradually  assume  the  position  of 
religious  guides  because  of  the  character  of  the  mem- 
bership; although  they  would  have  no  means  of 
enforcing  their  decisions  and  pronouncements,  yet 
these  decisions  and  pronouncements  would  in  time 
gain  authority  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case;  or 
as  one  of  the  leading  Rabbis  put  it: 

"The  purpose  of  our  gathering  is  to  work  for  the  preserva- 
tion and  development  of  our  holy  religion;  all  our  delibera- 
tions are  concerned  herewith,  and  we  pass  resolutions  as  to 
how  this  is  to  be  accomplished.  Have  we  any  sy nodical 
justification?  No;  we  as  little  as  the  Rabbis  of  former  times. 
What  gave  them  their  power  was  the  confidence  of  the  con- 
gregations, and  this  confidence  was  reposed  in  them  because 
they  were  scholars  and  adepts  in  the  law.  The  same  holds 
with  us." 

On  such  a  basis  alone  can  the  authority  of  a  con- 
ference of  Rabbis  rest,  whether  now  it  was  the  con- 
ference at  Brunswick  in  1844,  or  this  latest  rabbinical 
convention  in  Detroit,  meeting  just  seventy  years 
thereafter.  The  special  work,  deliberations  and  reso- 
lutions of  the  famous  German  Conferences  at  Bruns- 
wick, Frankfort  and  Breslau  of  that  fifth  decade  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  I  can  not  stop  to  discuss  or 


196  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

even  mention.  I  refer  to  them  by  way  of  historical 
introduction  to  my  theme,  and  also  because  there  is 
a  direct  bond  of  connection  between  our  Conference, 
whose  silver  anniversary  we  are  now  celebrating,  and 
these  early  conferences  on  German  soil.  The  very 
first  resolution  adopted  by  this  Conference  on  the  day 
of  its  organization  in  this  city  twenty-five  years  ago 
declared  : 

"That  the  proceedings  of  all  the  modern  rabbinical  con- 
ferences from  that  held  in  Brunswick  in  1844  and  includ- 
ing all  like  assemblages  held  since,  shall  be  taken  as  a  basis 
for  the  work  of  this  Conference  in  an  endeavor  to  maintain 
in  unbroken  succession  the  formulated  opinion  of  Jewish 
thought  and  life  in  each  era." 

There  is  then  the  direct  bond  of  connection  between 
our  meeting  here  and  now  and  that  first  assembly  of 
Reform  Rabbis.  This  Conference  is  the  institution 
par  excellence  that  represents  the  historic  spirit  of 
modern  Judaism.  The  Brunswick  Conference  was 
an  experiment,  its  descendant  and  successor,  the 
Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis,  is  an  ac- 
complished fact,  and  is  the  representative  institution 
of  the  religious  life  and  aspiration  of  liberal  Judaism 
in  this  country.  What  the  German  Rabbis  of  that 
era  of  storm  and  stress  visioned  but  failed  to  bring  to 
pass,  namely,  a  stable  rabbinical  conference  that  was 
to  meet  from  year  to  year,  their  American  descendants 
in  the  spirit  have  achieved  with  God's  help  and  through 
the  initiative  of  the  masterful  founder  and  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  father  of  this  Conference,  the  mighty 
builder  of  flourishing  Jewish  institutions,  America's 
foremost  Jewish  organizing  genius,  Isaac  M.  Wise. 
Our  great  teacher  once  told  the  present  speaker, 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  197 

with  whom  he  was  associated  as  colleague  in  the  same 
city  for  over  ten  years,  that  he  had  attended  as  a 
visitor  the  second  of  the  three  famous  German 
Rabbinical  Conferences  of  the  fifth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  viz.,  that  of  Frankfort  on  the 
Main;  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  Conference,  nor 
did  he  participate  in  the  discussions;  he,  a  young 
Bohemian  rabbi,  was  there  simply  as  an  onlooker 
and  an  interested  listener.  Who  can  tell  but  that  the 
ideas  engendered  in  Isaac  M.  Wise's  fruitful  mind  by 
the  sight  of  a  number  of  German  Rabbis  in  council 
were  directly  responsible  for  his  untiring  and  un- 
abated efforts  in  the  same  direction  almost  from  the 
time  that  he  arrived  in  this  country?  Setting  foot 
on  these  shores  in  July,  1846,  he  associated  himself  in 
October  of  that  year  with  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal  and 
two  others  in  the  formation  of  a  Beth  Din,  the  first 
recorded  association  of  a  number  of  Rabbis  for  united 
work  in  the  cause  of  Judaism  in  this  country. 
Although  this  Beth  Din  accomplished  little,  if  any- 
thing, of  lasting  practical  importance,  still  it  stands 
in  the  history  of  American  Judaism  as  the  earliest 
attempt  at  a  rabbinical  association.  And  as  such  it 
is  significant  and  has  its  place  in  a  survey  of  such 
associations  of  American  Rabbis. 

The  formation  of  a  rabbinical  organization  was 
advocated  constantly  by  Wise  in  spoken  address  and 
written  word,  and  when  shortly  after  his  arrival  in 
Cincinnati  he  established  his  newspaper,  "The 
Israelite",  in  July,  1854,  he  soon  began  to  agitate  in 
its  columns  the  idea  of  a  rabbinical  conference.  So 
well  did  he  succeed  that  within  the  short  space  of  a 


198  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


little  more  than  a  year  such  a  conference,  the  first  on 
America's  soil,  convened  in  the  city  of  Cleveland, 
in  the  month  of  October,  1855.  The  resolutions 
adopted  by  that  conference,  instead  of  uniting  all  the 
Rabbis  of  the  country,  as  was  the  fond  hope  of  the 
men  assembled,  became  a  veritable  apple  of  discord 
and  divided  the  American  Rabbinate  into  warring 
camps.  A  mere  reference  to  these  unfortunate  years 
of  bitter  recrimination  and  animosity  must  suffice 
Far  be  it  from  me  on  this  happy  anniversary  occasion 
to  dwell  even  briefly  upon  the  differences  and  dis- 
sonances, either  past  or  present;  ours  be  it  to 
strengthen  the  spirit  of  union  and  harmony! 

Fourteen  years  after  the  Cleveland  Conference,  with 
its  regrettable  result  of  dividing  the  reform  Rabbis 
into  an  Eastern  faction,  composed  of  the  leaders  on 
the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  a  Western,  of  which 
Cincinnati  represented  the  front  and  leading,  the  two 
factions  met  together  in  Philadelphia  at  the  Confer- 
ence that  took  place  in  that  city  in  1869.  Here  the 
differences  seemed  to  be  healed.  Wise  and  Lilienthal, 
the  great  Western  leaders,  and  Einhorn,  Samuel 
Hirsch  and  Samuel  Adler,  the  foremost  Eastern 
Rabbis  and  a  number  of  the;r  colleagues  from  various 
parts  of  the  country,  gathered  to  discuss  matters  of 
vital  religious  concern.  However,  the  union  among  the 
Rabbis  which  the  Philadelphia  Conference  effected, 
was  unfortunately  not  lasting.  WTithin  the  next 
two  years  three  rabbinical  conferences  were  held, 
one  at  Cleveland,  in  July,  1870,  a  second  at  New 
York,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  and  a  third  at 
Cincinnati,  in  June,  1871.  None  of  these  Conferences 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  199 


was  attended  by  the  noted  Eastern  leaders  who  were 
prominent  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Philadelphia 
Conference.  Let  the  veil  be  drawn  over  the  bitter 
differences  and  expressions  of  those  years  also.  Let 
the  dead  past  bury  its  dead. 

Thirteen  years  were  to  elapse  ere  another  rabbinical 
conference  was  to  meet  in  this  country,  although  in 
the  interim  two  great  institutions  were  founded  as 
the  results  of  Wise's  unremitting  campaign  for  union 
and  organization:  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations,  the  first  impetus  to  which  was  given 
at  the  rabbinical  .conference,  held  in  Cincinnati,  in 
1871,  had  been  organized  in  March,  1873,  and  the 
Hebrew  Union  College  opened  its  doors  in  October, 
1875.  These  two  institutions  gradually  removed  the 
differences  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  parties, 
so  that  when  in  1885  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  Rabbis 
at  Pittsburg  was  issued  by  the  present  revered 
Honorary  President  of  our  Conference  Jewish  minis- 
ters from  cities  extending  from  New  York  to  St. 
Louis  assembled  there  and  deliberated  in  harmonious 
cooperation  during  three  November  days  in  that  year. 
This  Conference  is  known  in  history  chiefly  because 
of  the  platform  of  principles  there  adopted.  The 
Rabbis  who  met  at  Pittsburg  were  of  the  Liberal 
wing,  and  the  principles  adopted  reflected  their  point 
of  view .  This  Conference  had  scarcely  adjourned 
when  the  Conservative  and  Orthodox  Rabbis  assailed 
vehemently  the  declarations  there  made.  This  was  to 
be  expected.  A  result  of  the  opposition  aroused  by 
the  Pittsburg  Conference  was  the  founding  of  the 
Jewish  Theological  Seminary  af  New  York.  The 


200  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


great  difference,  however,  between  the  opposition 
engendered  by  the  Pittsburg  Conference  and  that 
aroused  by  former  conferences  was  that  reformers  were 
arrayed  against  reformers  in  earlier  instances,  while 
the  Pittsburg  platform  accentuated  the  differences 
between  the  reformers  an  the  one  hand  and  the 
orthodox  on  the  other.  Happily,  here  the  reformers 
were  not  divided.  When  the  Pittsburg  Conference 
adjourned,  it  was  with  the  understanding  that  the 
next  meeting  was  to  take  place  in  Cincinnati  the 
following  June.  This  meeting,  however,  was  never 
held. 

Anothei  interval  of  four  years  elapsed  before 
Rabbis  from  all  parts  of  the  country  met  in  council- 
although  two  sectional  conferences  had  been  or, 
ganized,  one  of  Eastern  Rabbis  and  one  of  Southern 
Rabbis.  The  passing  years  had  brought  mellower 
influences  to  bear.  The  Hebrew  Union  College  was 
securing  an  ever  more  assured  position.  Isaac  M. 
Wise  held  the  undisputed  place  of  rabbirical  leader- 
ship in  the  country.  Conditions  were  now  shaping 
themselves  so  as  to  make  possible  the  realization  of 
his  third  great  plan  of  union;  the  congregations  were 
united;  the  rabbinical  college  was  successfully  estab- 
lished; there  only  remained  the  rabbinical  union  to  be 
consummated.  In  the  spring  of  1889  the  great 
leader,  who  was  approaching  his  seventieth  birthday, 
said  to  the  present  writer,  who  had  come  to  Cincinnati 
the  preceding  November,  that  he  believed  the  time 
was  now  ripe  for  the  establishment  of  a  rabbinical 
conference.  Plans  were  afoot  for  the  fitting  celebra- 
tion of  his  seventieth  birthdav.  He  felt  that  if  that 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  201 

event  could  be  marked  by  the  realization  of  his 
dream  of  a  lifetime,  it  would  be  joyous  indeed. 
He  could  now  count  upon  his  own  boys,  as  he  called  the 
graduates  of  the  College,  to  rally  around  him,  as 
well  as  the  many  Rabbis  who  had  stood  loyally  with 
him  in  past  years.  Even  the  opponents  of  former 
years  had  become  gradually  reconciled  and  the  time 
seemed  indeed  propitious  for  a  comprehensive  organi- 
zation of  the  Reform  Rabbis  of  the  country.  He  had, 
as  just  said,  taken  me,  at  that  time  a  young  man  of 
twenty-six,  into  his  confidence.  We  worked  out 
together  in  Cincinnati  the  plan  and  came  to  Detroit 
prepared  to  call  together  the  Rabbis  who  would  be 
present  at  the  convention  of  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations,  which  met  in  this  city  at  this 
season  twenty-five  years  ago. 

On  the  ninth  day  of  that  month  of  July,  in  the  year 
1889,  your  fellow  member  whom  you  have  honored 
by  asking  him  to  deliver  this  anniversary  address, 
called  together  the  meeting  at  which  this  Conference 
was  organized  by  the  following  pronouncement: 

"We,  the  Rabbis,  here  assembled,  do  organize  ourselves 
into  a  'Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis,'  and  appoint 

a  committee  of  five  to  report  a  plan  of  organization." 

• 

This  committee  reported  the  following  day,  July  10. 
The  plan  of  organization  drawn  up  by  them  was 
adopted  and  permanent  officers  were  elected.  Isaac 
M.  Wise,  the  founder  of  the  Conference,  was  elected 
President,  and  held  the  office  for  the  succeeding 
eleven  years,  until  his  great  and  blessed  life  closed 
its  earthly  chapter.  The  paragraph  of  that  plan  of 
organization  quoted  above,  which  declared  that, 


202  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

"The  proceedings  of  all  modern  rabbinical  conferences 
from  that  held  in  Brunswick  in  1844,  and  including  all 
like  assemblages  held  since,  shall  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  the 
work  of  this  conference," 

shows  clearly  that  the  charter  members  intended  this 
Conference  to  be  the  official  express'on  of  the  modern 
Jewish  spirit  as  the  successor  of  all  similar  Jewish 
effort  in  the  past.  Our  modern  or  Reform  Judaism, 
as  it  is  usually  called,  is  only  the  latest  expression 
of  the  Jewish  spirit  and  the  latest  link  in  the  chain  of 
Jewish  development.  For  this  the  Conference,  as 
the  organization  uniting  into  one  association  well 
nigh  all  rabbis  of  liberal  tendency  stands.  The 
Conference  founds  ufon  the  spiritual  endeavor  of 
all  the  centuries  of  Jewish  aspiration;  it  maintains 
the  line  of  Jewish  tradition,  though  it  interprets 
Jewish  traditions  in  the  light  of  God's  continuous 
revelation  of  Himself  in  the  developing  thought  of 
the  ages. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  Conference  has  been 
conscious  of  its  purpose  and  significance  as  the 
organized  expression  of  Jewish  religious  leadership  in 
this  country.  It  has  not  arrogated  to  itself  any 
authority,  ecclesiastical  or  synodical,  but  its  members 
have  discussed  the  many  and  varied  questions  of 
Jewish  belief,  thought  and  practice  and  have  em- 
bodied in  resolution  and  pronouncement  after  earnest 
deliberation  the  views  of  the  majority  on  the  points 
under  discussion.  This  majority  view,  however,  has 
never  coerced  the  minority,  nor  even  the  individual, 
but  it  has  stood  and  stands  in  each  instance  as  the 
deliberate  conclusion  of  the  leaders  of  our  faith  in 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  203 

council  and  has  been  thus  accepted  as  the  expression 
of  the  modern  Jewish  viewpoint.  During  its  existence 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  Conference  has  gradu- 
ally taken  its  place  as  the  representative  religious 
organization  of  Progressive  American  Jewry;  its 
annual  conventions  furnish  the  forum  for  the  con- 
sideration of  any  and  all  important  religious  questions; 
its  authority  lies  not  in  the  application  of  police 
measures;  it  has  no  power  to  enforce  its  views  by 
methods  of  excommunication  or  otherwise,  nor  would 
it  if  it  could,  but  its  power  and  authority  are  derived 
altogether  from  the  representative  character  of  its 
membership,  from  its  symbolization  of  the  union 
cf  our  religious  leadership  and  from  the  confidence 
which  it  has  inspired  throughout  the  land  by  its 
methods  and  achievements. 

In  the  founder's  first  message  to  the  Conference, 
which  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  ripe  fruit  of  his 
thought  as  to  the  purpose  of  such  an  organization, 
its  possibilities  and  its  ideals  he  expressed  himself 
on  this  vital  question  of  the  authority  of  the  Confer- 
ence in  these  words : 

"It  is  by  the  solid  union  of  its  expounders  only  that  Juda- 
ism can  command  the  respect  due  to  it  among  its  votaries 
and  its  opponents.  The  imposing  number  and  unanimity 
of  an  intellectual  and  moral  organization  impress  the  com- 
munity with  veneration  and  command  a  more  profound 
respect  even  than  the  noblest  deeds  and  most  exalted 
thoughts  of  the  few,  antagonistic  to  each  other.  If  Judaism 
is  to  be  properly  respected,  its  bearers  and  expounders  must 
first  be,  and  this  can  be  gained  only  by  solid  union."1 

1  Yearbook  I,  13. 


204  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

And  further  along  in  this  same  message  he  expanded 
this  thought  by  saying : 

"The  united  Rabbis  have  undoubtedly  the  right — also 
according  to  Talmudical  teachings — to  declare  and  decide, 
anyhow  for  our  country,  with  its  peculiar  circumstances, 
unforeseen  anywhere,  which  of  our  religious  forms,  institu- 
tions, observances,  usages,  customs,  ordinances  and  pre- 
scriptions are  still  living  factors  in  our  religious,  ethical  and 
intellectual  life,  and  which  are  so  no  longer  and  ought  to  be 
replaced  by  more  adequate  means  to  give  expression  to  the 
spirit  of  Judaism  and  to  reveal  its  character  of  universal 
religion.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  duty  and  right  of  the  united 
Rabbis  to  protect  Judaism  against  stagnation  and  each 
individual  Rabbi  against  the  attacks  frequently  made  upon 
every  one  who  proposes  any  reform  measure.  Let  the 
attack  hereafter  be  made  in  the  Conference  and  let  the  honor 
of  the  individual  be  preserved  intact.  All  reforms  ought  to 
go  into  practice  on  the  authority  of  the  Conference,  not 
only  to  protect  the  individual  Rabbi,  but  to  protect  Judaism 
against  presumptuous  innovations  and  the  precipitation  of 
rash  and  inconsiderate  men.  The  Conference  is  the  lawful 
authority  in  all  matters  of  form."2 

And  the  closing  paragraph  of  this  initial  presi- 
dential address  sums  up  the  situation  thus  clearly 
and  comprehensively : 

"Whatever  the  individual  could  not  or  should  not  do, 
and  yet  ought  to  be  done  in  support  of  Israel's  mission  or 
in  advancement  of  American  Judaism,  the  Conference  could 
and  should  do.  The  collective  learning  and  piety  is  a  power 
for  good  by  sincere  cooperation.  If  many  support  one, 
man  is  a  power.  If  one  sustains  many,  he  becomes  the 
wisdom  and  energy  of  many.  If  the  spirit  of  Judaism  is  to 
be  developed  to  universal  religion  and  provided  with  the 
forms  and  means  to  be  accessible  to  the  common  intelligence 
— and  this  is  our  mission  and  our  duty — we  must  have  the 

2  Ibid.,  page  19. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  205 

united  rabbinate,  the  annual  Conference,  the  earnest  and 
steady  work  of  all  our  intellectual  forces  united  in  one  power. 
With  this  Conference  we  enter  upon  the  new  phase  of  Ameri- 
can Judaism  as  the  free  messenger  of  God  to  a  free  people, 
a  kingdom  of  priests  to  anoint  a  holy  nation.  Let  the  work 
be  equal  to  the  ideal  and  the  success  as  rich  as  the  Lord's 
promise  to  all  his  anointed  messengers:  'The  Lord  said 
unto  me,  thou  art  my  son,  I  have  this  day  begotten  thee'  ".* 

In  his  last  message  but  one  to  the  Conference,  Dr. 
Wise  again  addressed  himself  to  this  subject,  and  I 
quote  his  words  because  they  were  written  after  the 
Conference  had  existed  nine  years,  a  period  longer 
than  any  similar  institution  in  the  history  of  modern 
Judaism,  and  thus  are  significant  not  merely  as  a 
forecast,  which  the  opening  message  was,  but  as  a 
historical  retrospect  of  the  path  the  Conference  had 
trodden  and  a  final  word  from  his  lips  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  our  organization,  for  he  never  expressed 
himself  on  the  subject  again  at  our  gatherings,  it 
being  granted  him  to  attend  only  one  other  after  the 
meeting  at  which  these  words  were  spoken.  In  this 
message,  read  before  the  Atlantic  City  Convention, 
in  1898,  he  said : 

"This  body  started  into  existence  with  a  bold,  uncompro- 
mising and  frankly  outspoken  principle  and  without  waver- 
ing at  any  time,  without  holding  out  any  bait  or  offering 
any  compromise  to  the  undecided  outsider,  steadfastly 
adhered  to  it.  'Ours  is  the  purely  historical  principle  of 
Judaism,  with  its  progressive  and  reforming  spirit,'  was  the 
announcement  first  and  last,  'we  are  the  successor  of  all 
rabbinical  conferences  and  synods  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
or  perhaps  of  the  post-Mendelssohnian  age,  the  latest  link 
of  that  chain;  we  only  continue  the  work  in  harmony  with 

8  Ibid.,  page  21. 


206  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  spirit  of  this  age  and  this  country,  as  the  preservation 
and  promulgation  of  our  sacred  inheritance  demand  it  to 
the  best  of  our  knowledge  and  judgment .  We  want  no 
associates  that  have  not  arrived  at  this  standpoint ;  whoever 
is  not  for  us,  can  not  be  with  us.'  Such  was  the  original 
proclamation,  and  to  it  did  you  cling  faithfully  and  immut- 
ably. 'No  ogling  with  the  orthodoxy  of  any  denomination, 
also  no  outcry  of  heresy  against  men  and  scholars  of  other 
convictions,'  was  the  starting  idea,  and  remained  the 
efficient  cause  of  all  your  decisions  to  this  day,  as  is  abund- 
antly evident  from  all  publications  of  this  Conference. 
This  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of  history  and  of  this  age  and 
this  country,  this  frank  and  free  announcement  of  it,  and  this 
consistency  in  the  exceptional  adherence  to  it,  commanded 
the  respect  of  the  community,  inspired  confidence,  and 
established  the  body's  authority,  and  what  is  perhaps  more 
important,  it  preserved  this  body  intact,  steadily  augmented 
its  numbers  and  produced  for  it  the  attachment  and  loyalty 
which  is  the  pride  of  our  Conference.  Another  cause  of  the 
longevity  of  this  Conference  is  that  it  never  assumed  any 
but  an  advisory  authority.  No  inquisitory,  no  hierarchical, 
no  commandatory  authority  was  ever  claimed  or  exercised 
by  this  body.  It  never  commanded,  hence  it  was  never 
disobeyed;  it  advised  its  members  and  their  congregations 
and  many  did  listen  to  it."4 

I  have  quoted  the  founder's  views  on  the  subject  in 
hand  at  some  length  because  I  feel  this  to  be  not  only 
a  duty  of  piety,  but  also  because  I  believe  that  the 
wise  words  of  him  who  was  a  septuagenarian  when  the 
Conference  was  founded  and  within  a  year  of  being 
an  octogenarian  when  the  sentences  last  adduced 
were  spoken  would  express  still  today  with  very  slight 
alteration  the  viewpoint  of  most  of  the  members  of 
the  Conference.  Many  other  significant  and  precious 


4  Yearbook  VIII,  11  and  12. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  207 


words  have  been  utteied  by  Presidents  and  members 
on  this  and  other  subjects  that  have  been  discussed 
at  the  sessions  of  the  Conference,  but  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  from  now  on  I  can  give  only  the  expressions 
of  the  Conference  as  a  body,  and  not  of  any  individual 
members,  worthy  as  these  are  in  many  instances,  of 
being  repeated.  Dr.  Wise's  relation  to  the  Confer- 
ence is  unique;  no  other  individual  has,  or  in  any 
likelihood  ever  shall,  acquire  the  position  he  held  in 
our  body.  Let  me  then  in  support  of  the  view  of  the 
founder  indicate  the  views  of  the  Conference  as  a 
body  on  this  important  introductory  matter  of 
authority. 

A  resolution  adopted  at  one  of  the  early  sessions 
of  the  organization  may  be  taken  as  the  official  state- 
ment of  its  standpoint  as  to  its  authority.  In  1892, 
the  Committee  on  President's  Message  reported  the 
following  resolution,  which  was  adopted: 

"The  Committee  recommends  the  endorsement  of  the 
standpoint  set  forth  in  the  message  that  the  Conference, 
though  not  an  authoritative  religious  body,  still  claims  for 
itself  the  right  to  formulate  such  principles  as  represent  the 
convictions  of  progressive  congregations  and  to  suggest 
such  constructive  measures  as  will  be  helpful  to  those  who 
share  their  views."6 

At  three  other  conventions  the  Committee  on 
President's  Message  variously  constituted,  quoted 
sentences  from  these  messages  as  expressive  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Conference  and  so  recommended  in  the 
report  which  was  endorsed  by  the  body.  The  first 
of  these  statements  of  the  standpoint  and  purpose  of 
the  Conference  is  thus  given : 

5  Yearbook  III,  14. 


208  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

"In  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  message,  we  desire  to 
endorse  the  President's  conception  of  the  function  of  our 
Conference  in  American  Judaism,  to  wil :  'That  it  ever 
remain  and  continue  to  be  a  positive  agency  for  the  strength- 
ening of  the  Jewish  spirit,  a  constructive  power  that  shall 
successfully  grapple  with  the  many  perplexing  problems  that 
are  constantly  confronting  us,  a  true,  representative,  religious 
organization  of  American  Jewry;  that  it  build  firmly  on  the 
past  foundations  and  be  ever  mindful  of  the  demand  of  the 
present ;  that  it  work  hand  in  hand  with  the  many  splendid 
associations  in  our  variegated  Jewish  activity,  with  thought 
ever  directed  to  the  realization  of  the  prophetic  program  of  a 
Vrith'am  'or  goyim,to  the  end  that  Judaism  may  in  all  truth 
become  the  light  of  the  world  through  the  devoted  service 
of  the  covenant  people,  Israel,  God's  servant.'  "6 

The  second  statement  reads: 

"The  twentieth  annual  convention  of  the  Central  Con- 
ference of  American  Rabbis  will  be  ever  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  this  organization.  The  celebration  of  the  Einhorn 
centenary  indicates  the  essential  unity  which  has  been 
brought  about  among  the  various  elements  of  Reform  Juda- 
ism in  America.  Old  misunderstandings  have  been  cleared 
away  and  a  spirit  of  cooperation  has  been  engendered,  which 
is  rich  in  promise  for  the  future.  The  founder  of  our  Con- 
ference, that  great  protagonist  of  American  Judaism,  is 
singularly  justified  of  his  hopes.  The  splendid  emphasis 
laid  upon  the  ideal  of  Reform  Judaism  in  the  President's 
message  that  'the  Conference  continues  the  line  of  Jewish 
tradition,  but  it  evaluates  traditions  according  to  their 
power  to  express  the  message  of  religion  to  living  men' 
indicates  clearly  the  religious  attitude  of  our  Conference 
The  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  endorses  this 
platform  of  progress  and  pledges  itself  through  its  members  to 
carry  out  the  ideals  of  Reform  Judaism."7 


6  Yearbook  XVI 1 1,  92. 

7  Yearbook  XIX,  154-5. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  209 

And  the  third  resolution  avers: 

"We  agree  that  reform  was  inevitable.  And  we,  too,  have 
'an  abiding  conviction  that  the  Reform  movement,  the 
product  of  inevitable  historic  forces,  is  a  legitimate  growth 
on  the  parent  stem,  and  is  bound  to  extend  to  even  larger 
numbers  as  modern  civilization,  at  its  best,  expands  its 
realms'.  It  is  a  matter  of  particular  gratification  to  note 
the  spread  of  the  liberal  spirit  in  Europe,  and  we  again  send 
our  greetings  to  the  workers  in  London,  Berlin,  Paris,  Mel- 
bourne, Budapest,  and  St.  Petersburg,  and  wish  them 
abundant  success  in  the  effective  and  healthy  adaptation 
of  the  principles  and  ideals  of  Reform  Judaism  to  their  re- 
spective needs."8 

Although  unswerving  in  its  allegiance  to  the 
principle  of  progress  and  development  in  Judaism 
the  Conference  has  not  been  narrow  in  its  sympathies 
nor  unmindful  of  its  connection  with  the  whole  house 
of  Israel.  It  has  manifested  its  catholicity  on  many 
and  all  occasions.  It  has  celebrated  by  the  reading 
of  scholarly  papers  the  centenaries,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  not  only  of  such  protagonists  of  Reform  as 
Samuel  Holdheim,  David  Einhorn,  Samuel  Adler, 
Abraham  Geiger,  Leopold  Stein,  and  Ludwig  Philipp- 
son,  but  also  of  so  uncompromising  a  champion  of 
orthodoxy  as  Samuel  Raphael  Hirsch;  at  its  session 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1909,  it  sent  representatives 
to  the  funeral  of  Joseph  Mayer  Asher,  that  fine  type 
of  the  orthodox  Rabbi,  greatly  admitted  not  only  by 
his  own  sympathizers,  but  also  by  us  who  differed 
with  him  altogether  in  principle  and  practice;  aye, 
not  only  this,  but  a  brief  service  was  held  during  the 
session  of  the  Conference  in  his  memory. 

8  Yearbook  XX,  139. 


210  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


Further,  nothing  that  is  of  interest  to  Jewry  at 
large  but  finds  an  echo  in  the  deliberations  of  our 
body.  The  Conference  by  its  willingness  to  co- 
operate with  other  organizations  has  vindicated  time 
and  again  its  claim  to  be  the  central  representative 
organization  of  the  Jewish  ministry  in  the  United 
States.  At  a  very  recent  meeting  it  was  resolved  that 

"We  express  our  readiness  to  cooperate  with  all  parties 
in  Judaism  in  every  effort  making  for  the  moral,  cultural 
and  industrial  efficiency  of  the  Jews  all  over  the  world",' 

and  the  recommendation  was  adopted  to  appoint  a 
committee  on  cooperation  with  other  Jewish  religious 
organizations  for  the  advancement  of  Judaism  in 
accordance  with  the  President's  suggestion  that 

"We  should  take  the  initiative  and  lend  cooperation 
toward  the  upbuilding  of  any  form  of  Judaism  that  makes 
for  religious  deepening  and  for  ethical  insight  and  in- 
fluence."10 

After  this  general  purview  of  the  character  and 
standpoint  of  the  Conference,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  point  out  the  most  important  resolutions  and 
achievements  of  the  organization  during  the  quarter 
century  of  its  blessed  activity.  This  record  natur- 
ally falls  under  two  heads,  the  theoretical  and  the 
practical;  the  theoretical  indicates  the  attitude  of  the 
Conference  in  matters  of  religious  belief  and  opinion 
as  well  as  pronouncements  on  larger  issues  affecting 
Jewish  and  general  matters;  the  practical  shows 
forth  the  achievements  of  the  Conference  in  the  matter 
of  publications,  organization  and  the  like. 

9  Yearbook  XXII,  230. 
10  Ibid.,  page  228. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  211 

The  Conference  has  addressed  itself  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  moot  points  of  Jewish  belief  and 
practice,  and  has  met  the  issues  in  a  manner  befitting 
their  importance  and  its  dignity.  It  will  be  under- 
stood that  it  is  possible  to  pass  in  review  only  the 
most  important  of  the  declarations  of  the  Conference 
The  only  feasible  manner  of  conducting  this  inquiry 
is  to  proceed  in  the  chronological  order  in  which  the 
various  actions  were  taken,  even  .though  this  involves 
the  sacrifice  of  logical  sequence  as  far  as  subject 
matter  is  concerned. 

At  the  convention  of  the  year  1892  the  question  of 
the  requirements  for  the  admission  of  male  proselytes 
into  Judaism  was  debated  at  great  length.  The  reso- 
lution as  finally  adopted  at  this  convention  reads  as 
follows : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Central  Conference  of  American 
Rabbis,  assembled  this  day  in  this  city  of  New  York,  con- 
siders it  lawful  and  proper  for  any  officiating  Rabbi,  assisted 
by  no  less  than  two  associates,  and  in  the  name  and  with  the 
•  consent  of  his  congregation,  to  accept  into  the  sacred 
covenant  of  Israel  and  declare  fully  affiliated  to  the  con- 
gregation nKnplJJ*  IT!  73?  any  honorable  and  in- 
telligent person,  who  desires  such  affiliation,  without 
any  initiatory  rite,  ceremony  or  observance  whatever; 
provided,  such  person  be  sufficiently  acquainted  with  fhe 
faith,  doctrine  and  religious  usages  of  Israel;  that  nothing 
derogatory  to  such  person's  moral  and  mental  character  is 
suspected;  that  it  is  his  or  her  free  will  and  choice  to  embrace 
the  cause  of  Judaism,  and  that  he  or  she  declare  verbally 
and  in  a  document  signed  and  sealed  before  such  officiating 
Rabbi  and  his  associates  his  or  her  intention  and  firm 
resolve : 

1.  To  worship  the  One,  Sole  and  Eternal  God,  and  none 
besides  Him. 


212  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

2.  To  be  conscientiously  governed  in  his  or  her  doings 
and  omissions  in  life  by  God's  laws,  ordained  for  the  child 
and  image  of  the  Maker  and  Father  of  all,  the  sanctified 
son  or  daughter  of  the  divine  covenant. 

3.  To  adhere  in  life  and  death,  actively  and  faithfully 
to  the  sacred  cause  and  mission  of  Israel,  as  marked  out 
in  Holy  Writ. 

Be  it  furthermore 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to 
report  to  this  Conference  formulas  of  the  two  documents, 
viz.,  one  to  be  signed  by  the  proselyte  and  witnesses,  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  officiating  Rabbi,  and  another 
to  be  signed  by  the  officiating  Rabbi  and  his  associates,  to 
be  delivered  to  the  proselyte. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  to  this  honorable 
body  by  your  Committee. 

Isaac  M.  Wise,  Chairman."11 

The  Conference  here  made  the  important  declara- 
tion that  the  rite  of  circumcision  may  be  dispensed 
with  in  the  reception  of  the  male  proselyte  into 
Judaism. 

At  this  same  convention  what  was  called  the 
burning  question  of  cremation  was  discussed.  Does 
Judaism  countenance  the  rite  of  cremation,  and  shall 
the  Rabbi  as  the  representative  of  Judaism  officiate 
at  funerals  in  such  instances?  In  answer  to  such 
and  similar  questions  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  in  case  we  should  be  invited  to  officiate 
as  ministers  of  religion  at  the  cremation  of  a  departed  co- 
religionist, we  ought  not  to  refuse  on  the  plea  that  cremation 
is  anti-Jewish  or  irreligious."12 

One  of  the  great  achievements  of  Reform  Judaism 
is  the  religious  emancipation  of  woman.  Woman  as 


11  Yearbook  III,  36. 

12  Ibid.,  page  41. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  213 

wife  and  mother  has  always  held  a  very  high  place 
in  Jewish  esteem,  but  owing  to  the  oriental  surround- 
ings in  which  Judaism  was  born,  she  had  not  part  in 
public  religious  functions.  Reform  Judaism  changed 
all  this.  Gradually  woman  secured  the  same  re- 
ligious consideration  and  standing  as  man.  The 
introduction  of  the  family  pew,  the  departure  from 
the  custom  of  not  beginning  service  until  ten  adult 
males  were  present  and  similar  reforms  indicate  the 
changes  that  the  new  valuation  of  woman's  place  has 
brought.  These  changes  have  now  reached  the  point 
that  in  a  number  of  congregations  woman  is  admitted 
to  full  membership  on  equal  terms  with  man.  As 
far  as  I  know,  the  first  public  demand  for  this  recog- 
nition of  woman  in  Jewish  congregations  was  voiced 
in  a  resolution  adopted  at  the  convention  of  that  same 
year,  1892,  when  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tion were  adopted: 

"Whereas,  We  have  progressed  beyond  the  idea  of  the 
secondary  position  of  women  in  Jewish  congregations,  we 
recognize  the  importance  of  their  hearty  cooperation  and 
active  participation  in  congregational  life.  Therefore, 
be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Board  have  prepared  for 
the  next  annual  convention  a  paper  tracing  the  development 
of  the  recognition  of  woman  in  Jewish  congregations,  and 
expounding  a  conclusion  that  woman  be  eligible  to  full 
membership  with  all  privileges  of  voting  and  holding  office 
in  our  congregations."13 

In  the  year  1896,  the  pamphlet  of  Theodore  Herzl 
entitled  "The  Jewish  State"  was  issued.  This 
pamphlet  was  the  inspiration  of  the  movement  known 

M  Ibid.,  page  40. 


214 


as  Zionism,  which  has  called  forth  enthusiastic  ad- 
herence on  the  one  hand  and  decided  opposition  on 
the  other.  In  the  very  early  days  of  this  movement 
the  Conference  took  a  decided  stand  in  reference 
to  it. 

Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise  in  his  presidential  message  read 
at  the  meeting  held  at  Montreal  in  the  year  following 
the  appearance  of  Herzl's  pamphlet  and  the  birth  of 
the  Zionist  movement  took  strong  issue  with  this 
political  interpretation  of  Israel's  future  and  urged 
that  the  Conference  give  voice  to  a  pronouncement 
upon  the  subject  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
that  it  represented.  Accordingly  the  following  utter- 
ance on  the  subject  was  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  we  totally  disapprove  of  any  attempt  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  state.  Such  attempts  show  a 
misunderstanding  of  Israel's  mission,  which  from  the  narrow 
political  and  national  field  has  been  expanded  to  the  pro- 
motion among  the  whole  human  race  of  the  broad  and  uni- 
versalistic  religion  first  proclaimed  by  the  Jewish  prophets. 
Such  attempts  do  not  benefit,  but  infinitely  harm  our  Jewish 
brethren  where  they  are  still  persecuted,  by  confirming  the 
assertion  of  their  enemies  that  the  Jews  are  foreigners  in  the 
countries  in  which  they  are  at  home,  and  of  which  they  are 
everywhere  the  most  loyal  and  patriotic  citizens. 

We  reaffirm  that  the  object  of  Judaism  is  not  political  nor 
national,  but  spiritual,  and  addresses  itself  to  the  continuous 
growth  of  peace,  justice  and  love  in  the  human  race,  to  a 
messianic  time  when  all  men  will  recognize  that  they  form 
'one  great  brotherhood'  for  the  establishment  of  God's 
kingdom  on  earth. "^ 


14  Yearbook  VII,  XLI. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  215 


Nine  years  later  an  affirmation  similar  in  spirit 
was  made  when  the  members  present  at  the  Indian- 
apolis Convention  declared: 

"We  herewith  reaffirm  that  religion  is  the  tie  which  unites 
the  Jews,  the  Synagog  is  the  basic  institution  of  Judaism 
and  the  congregation  its  unit  of  representation."15 

And  in  terms  equally  strong  the  standpoint  of  the 
Conference  in  this  matter  was  reaffirmed  two  years 
ago,  when  at  Baltimore  the  statement  in  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Church  and  State  was  endorsed 
to  the  following  effect : 

"Inasmuch  as  we  are  unqualifiedly  committed  to  the 
total  separation  of  Church  and  State,  we  discountenance 
any  movement  in  Jewish  communities  on  other  than  the 
religious  basis  which  would  violate  this  principle  and  tend 
to  create  the  impression  that  the  Jews  are  an  imperium  in 
imperio."16 

A  favorite  theme  some  years  ago  in  a  number  of 
Jewish  pulpits  was  the  personality  and  the  teaching 
of  the  founder  of  Christianity;  it  became  quite  the 
fashion  in  some  quarters  to  lecture  on  this  subject ;  one 
critic  of  this  tendency  denounced  what  he  termed  this 
coquetting  with  Christianity;  in  truth,  in  some  in- 
stances it  appeared  that  the  Rabbi  in  this  matter 
was  more  royalist  than  the  king.  A  communication 
was  addressed  to  the  Conference  by  a  gentleman  much 
interested  in  this  subject;  he  requested  the  opinion 
of  the  Conference  as  to  whether  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
shall  be  taught  in  the  Jewish  religious  school.  This 
communication  was  referred  to  a  committee  at  the 

16  Yearbook  XVI,  183. 
16  Yearbook  XXII,  108. 


216  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Philadelphia  Convention  in  1901  for  consideration 
and  report ;  the  Committee's  report,  which  was  adopted 
as  the  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  Conference, 
reads  thus: 

"The  position  of  Judaism  in  respect  to  the  founder  of 
Christianity  is  altogether  negative,  namely,  as  denying  his 
divinity.  Though  the  pivot  on  which  Christianity  revolves, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  no  place  in  Jewish  theology.  The 
conception  of  his  historical  position  and  of  his  significance 
in  the  development  of  religion  is  a  matter  of  individual  view 
and  conviction,  as  is  also  the  pointing  out  and  appreciation 
of  the  Jewish  nature  of  many  of  the  beautiful  moral  teachings 
attributed  to  Jesus,  but  these  can  not  form  part  of  nor  be 
incorporated  in  any  official  statement  or  declaration  of 
Jewish  belief."17 

At  the  New  Orleans  Convention  following  this 
meeting  held  at  Philadelphia,  a  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  study  the  Sabbath  question,  notably  as  to 
the  matter  of  Sabbath  observance  and  to  report  its 
findings.  This  commission,  headed  by  our  lamented 
colleague  of  blessed  memory,  Rabbi  Jacob  Voor- 
sanger,  reported  the  following  year  at  the  second 
convention,  held  in  the  city  of  Detroit.  The  crux 
of  the  lengthy  and  at  times  heated  discussion  was  the 
matter  of  Sunday  services.  In  the  resolution  which 
was  finally  adopted  this  question  was  not  included 
except  by  inference.  The  resolution  reads: 

"The  Conference  declares  itself  in  favor  of  maintaining 
the  historical  Sabbath  as  a  fundamental  institution  of 
Judaism  and  of  exerting  every  effort  to  enforce  its  observ- 
ance."18 


17  Yearbook  XI,  86. 

18  Yearbook  XT II,  77. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  217 

However,  at  the  following  convention,  held  in  Louis- 
ville in  1904,  the  President  referred  to  the  subject 
at  length  in  his  message,  calling  attention  to  economic 
and  business  conditions,  which  make  the  observance 
of  the  historical  Sabbath  practically  impossible  for 
thousands  and  urging  the  need  of  a  service  on  the 
civil  day  of  rest  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  can  not 
attend  on  the  historical  Sabbath.  In  response  to 
this  presentation  of  the  matter  the  Conference  placed 
the  seal  of  its  approval  upon  the  resolution  adopted 
by  the  Pittsburg  Rabbinical  Conference  by  concur- 
ring in  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on 
President's  Message,  which  reported  on  the  subject 
in  this  wise: 

"We  recommend  the  principle  expressed  in  the  resolution 
adopted  in  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  November,  1885, 
presenting  it  in  the  following  form: 

Whereas,  We  recognize  the  importance  of  maintaining 
the  historical  Sabbath  as  a  bond  with  our  great  past  and  a 
symbol  of  the  unity  of  Israel  the  world  over;  and, 

Whereas,  On  the  other  hand,  it  can  not  be  denied  that 
there  is  a  very  large  number  of  Jews  who,  owing  to  economic 
and  industrial  conditions,  are  not  able  to  attend  services 
on  our  sacred  day  of  rest ;  be  it 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Conference  there 
is  nothing  in  the  spirit  of  Judaism  to  prevent  the  holding 
of  divine  service  on  Sunday  or  any  other  weekday  wherever 
the  necessity  of  such  services  is  felt."19 

Another  question  of  far-reaching  consequence  is 
that  of  mixed  marriages.  What  attitude  shall  the 
Rabbi  take  when  requested  to  officiate  at  such 
marriages?  As  is  the  custom  in  the  consideration 
of  all  questions  of  grave  import  by  the  Conference, 
19  Yearbook  XIV,  119. 


218  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  subject  is  presented  from  the  historical  and 
theological  standpoint  in  exhaustive  papers.  This  was 
the  procedure  also  in  this  matter.  Both  at  the 
Frankfort  Convention  of  1908  and  the  New  York 
Convention  of  1909,  the  subject  of  mixed  marriages 
was  presented  in  papers  treating  the  theme  from 
various  points  of  view.  As  the  outcome  of  the  dis- 
cussion of  such  papers  on  mixed  marriages  the  Con- 
ference expressed  its  attitude  on  the  subject  under 
discussion  thus: 

"The  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  declares 
that  mixed  marriages  are  contrary  to  the  tradition  of  the 
Jewish  religion  and  should  therefore  be  discouraged  by  the 
American  Rabbinate." 

The  last  pronouncement  of  the  Conference  to  which 
I  desire  to  call  attention  in  this  portion  of  this  address 
is  the  judgment  expressed  on  the  subject  of  Judaism 
and  Christian  Science.  Throughout  this  country 
there  are  Jews  who  are  attracted  by  Christian 
Science,  and  who  declare  not  only  that  there  is 
nothing  in  Christian  Science  that  is  incompatible 
with  Judaism,  but  that  on  the  contrary  they  are 
better  Jews  because  of  their  attachment  to  Chrstian 
Science. 

This  strange  error  was  punctured  by  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  leaders  of  Jewish  thought  assembled 
at  Baltimore  in  1912,  when  they  declared  as  their 
deliberate  judgment  that 

"Whereas,  Some  of  our  coreligionists  delude  themselves 
into  the  belief  that  they  can  give  formal  adherence  to  the 
religious  denomination  calling  itself  Christian  Science, 
without  violating  their  allegiance  to  those  beliefs,  principles 
and  ideals  which  express  the  spirit  of  Judaism  in  all  ages, 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  219 


Be  it  Resolved  by  the  Members  of  the  Central  Conference 
of  American  Rabbis,  That  they  are  strengthened  in  their 
previous  conviction  that  Christian  Science  in  its  tenets  and 
beliefs  is  essentially  different  from  and  in  fundamental 
contradiction  with  Judaism,  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  a 
Jew  to  accept  Christian  Science  without  thereby  denying 
Judaism."20 

Although  primarily  concerned  with  questions  of 
specific  Jewish  concern,  the  Conference  as  a  national 
religious  organization  has  addressed  itself  through 
these  twenty-five  years  to  many  questions  of  the 
general  religious  and  ethical  life  in  the  United  States 
and  the  civilized  world  at  large.  Thus  it  has  ex- 
pressed its  sympathy  with  the  movement  for  inter- 
national peace  and  arbitration;21  has  endorsed  the 
movement  for  securing  national  marriage  and  divorce 
legislation;22  has  denounced  child  labor  and  com- 
mended the  work 

"of  all  movements  in  state  and  federal  legislation  that  en- 
deavor to  abolish  child  labor,  as  well  as  with  all  movements 
that  make  for  the  proper  development  of  child  life  through 
education  and  recreation";23 

has  noted  with  gratification  the  efforts  to  suppress 
the  white  slave  traffic  through 

"the  enactments  of  more  rigorous  legislation  by  twenty-nine 
States  in  the  Union  and  the  general  cooperation  of  press, 
pulpit  and  other  public  agencies  resulting  in  the  diffusion 
of  information  and  the  exercise  of  powerful  moral  influence 
to  overcome  this  evil";24 


20  Yearbook  XXII,  229. 

21  Yearbook  XXI,  114. 

22  Yearbook  XVI,  192;  XXII,  229. 

23  Yearbook  XVIII,  94. 

24  Yearbook  XXI,  118. 


220  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

has  declared  itself  on  the  widely  discussed  theme  of 
the  connection  between  wages  and  morals  to  the 
effect  that 

"the  connection  between  wages  and  morals  is  not  direct  in 
the  sense  that  each  individual  who  does  not  receive  an  ade- 
quate wage  necessarily  falls  into  immorality,  but  indirect, 
in  the  sense  that  the  higher  wage  enables  the  individual  to 
live  under  such  environments  that  naturally  make  for  general 
well  being  and  better  moral  standards";25 

and  finally  an  instance  should  be  cited  when  in  a 
matter  of  general  concern  the  Conference  refused  to 
take  action,  namely,  when  on  the  subject  of  woman 
suffrage  the  declaration  was  made  that 

"this  is  a  matter  for  the  individual  Rabbi,  and  it  is  in- 
advisable for  the  Conference  as  a  body  to  take  action."26 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  consideration  of  the 
practical  achievements  of  the  Conference  through 
which  it  has  become  a  great  unifying  force  in  American 
Judaism  and  has  frequently  focussed  upon  tself  the 
attention  of  Jewish  observers  abroad.  Let  me  speak 
first  of  the  publications  of  the  Conference.  As  its 
premier  achievement  along  this  line  must  be  men- 
tioned the  preparation  and  publication  of  the  Union 
Prayer  Book.  One  of  the  signs  of  the  disorganized 
individualism  that  marked  the  Reform  movement  in 
its  early  days  was  the  multiplication  of  prayer 
books.  This  accentuated  the  lack  of  harmony.  The 
Conference  through  issuing  the  Union  Prayer  Book 
has  become  the  agent  of  harmony  among  our  Reform 
congregations.  With  but  few  exceptions  the  Reform 

26  Yearbook  XXII I,  26. 
26  Ibid.,  page  133. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  221 


congregations  throughout  the  land  are  using  this 
prayer  book.  From  the  time  that  this  prayer  book, 
as  prepared  by  the  Ritual  Committee,  was  adopted 
by  the  convention  at  Atlantic  City  twenty  years  ago, 
it  has  been  introduced  into  three  hundred  and  two 
congregations  and  twenty-three  institutions  and  has 
thus  become  in  all  truth  the  authorized  prayer  book 
of  our  liberal  movement  in  this  country.  The 
Union  Hymnal  is  another  achievement  along  this  line 
of  constructive  work.  First  adopted  in  1896,  this 
work,  thoroughly  amended  and  revised,  was  approved 
by  the  Conference  at  its  last  year's  session,  and  when 
this  revised  edition  will  appear  from  the  press  it  will 
receive  without  doubt  as  hearty  a  welcome  from  our 
congregations  as  did  the  Union  Prayer  Book.  The 
Union  Hagadah,  for  use  at  the  home  service  on  the 
eve  of  Passover,  has  found  wide  favor,  and  the 
manual  for  domestic  devotion  containing  prayers 
for  all  private  occasions  has  met  a  great  need.  The 
many  volumes  of  sermons  for  the  holidays  have  made 
possible  the  holding  of  services  in  many  small  com- 
munities where,  although  Jews  have  no  regularly 
constituted  congregation,  they  desire  to  come  to- 
gether for  worship  on  the  high  holy  days. 

The  issuing  of  tracts  on  subjects  of  vital  interest 
is  one  of  the  fine  activities  of  the  Conference.  Mention 
must  also  be  made  of  the  many  papers,  some  of  great 
value,  which  have  been  read  at  the  sessions  of  the 
Conference,  published  in  the  year-books  and  appear- 
ing frequently  in  separate  form  as  reprints.  The 
twenty- three  volumes  of  the  Yearbook  are  the  literary 
monument  of  the  strivings  and  activities  of  the 
Conference. 


222  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Besides  issuing  its  own  publications,  the  Conference 
throughout  its  existence  has  granted  subventions  to 
assist  authors  here  and  abroad  in  the  publication  of 
their  works.  The  copies  of  such  works  which  the 
Conference  has  received  in  recognition  of  this  aid 
have  been  given  usually  to  our  rabbinical  colleges, 
the  educational  institutions  with  which  in  the  nature 
of  the  case  the  Conference  feels  in  closest  touch. 

The  Conference  works  largely  through  Standing 
Committees ;  many  of  these  Committees  have  accomp- 
lished much  and  fine  work,  notably  the  Committee  on 
Summer  Services,  which  has  been  instrumental  in 
having  services  conducted  in  summer  resorts,  such 
services  having  been  held  at  nineteen  of  these  resorts 
during  the  summer  of  1912;  the  Committee  on  Re- 
ligious Education  and  Sabbath  School  Exhibit,  which 
arranges  for  the  discussion  of  the  important  questions 
of  the  religious  education  of  our  children;  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Synagog  and  Industrial  Relations,  which 
reports  on  the  relation  of  Judaism  to  the  labor 
problems  of  the  day;  the  Committee  on  Defectives, 
Dependents  and  Delinquents,  which  aims  to  bring 
religious  influences  to  bear  on  these  unfortunates  of 
our  community;  the  Committee  on  Religious  Work 
in  Universities,  which  addresses  itself  to  the  vital 
problem  of  arousing  the  Jewish  students  in  our  Uni- 
versities throughout  the  land  to  an  interest  in  their 
faith;  the  Committee  on  Responsa,  to  which  are  re- 
ferred important  questions  of  Jewish  belief  and 
practice  as  they  arise  in  various  communities;  the 
Committee  on  Contemporaneous  History,  which  pre- 
sents each  year  an  exhaustive  report  on  important 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  223 

events  that  have  taken  place  in  Jewry  here  and 
abroad  throughout  the  year;  and  finally  the  Com- 
mittee on  Church  and  State,  which,  representing  as 
it  does,  the  important  principle  of  the  complete  separa- 
tion of  Church  and  State,  keeps  itself  informed  of  the 
attempted  infractions  of  this  principle  anywhere 
throughout  the  country.  This  Committee  prepared  a 
number  of  years  ago  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  "Why 
the  Bible  Should  Not  Be  Read  in  the  Public  Schools," 
which  was  published  by  the  Conference,  and  has  been 
of  great  assistance  in  many  communities  where  this 
question  has  been  an  issue. 

Being  a  national  organization,  the  Conference  has 
cooperated  and  is  now  cooperating  with  other  Jewish 
national  organizations  in  the  pursuit  of  common 
aims.  Here  must  be  mentioned  first  the  cooperation 
with  the  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America 
in  preparing  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  English.  This  great  task,  entered  upon  in 
1907  by  these  two  organizations,  representing  the 
two  wings  of  Jewish  thought,  was  under  God's  provi- 
dence brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  during  the 
past  year,  and  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible  will 
appear,  as  is  now  likely,  within  the  next  twelvemonth. 

The  Conference  cooperates  largely  with  the  Union 
of  American  Hebrew  Congregations,  notably  through 
its  Department  of  Synagog  and  School  Extension. 
This  cooperation  is  constant,  and  is  notable  in  the 
work  of  a  Joint  Editorial  Board  for  the  publication 
of  text  books  for  our  religious  schools,  and  in  the 
proposed  task  of  the  Joint  Commission,  named  very 
recently,  for  the  raising  of  the  fund  for  the  support 


224  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


of  superannuated  ministers.  For  these  worthy  men 
who  have  grown  old  in  the  service,  the  Conference 
has  made  provision  from  the  very  beginning  of  its 
organization.  A  portion  of  its  income  from  all  sources 
goes  into  this  Relief  Fund.  A  number  of  estimable 
colleagues  have  been  assisted;  it  is  fine  to  think  that 
this  noble  work  will  now  assume  a  larger  scope 
through  the  cooperation  with  our  great  national 
congregational  organization.  The  Conference  has 
also  a  Standing  Committee  on  Cooperation  with 
National  Organizations  to  meet  whatever  situations 
may  arise,  which  require  united  action  on  the  part 
of  the  organized  associations  of  American  Jewry. 
The  Conference  represents  Judaism  as  a  spiritual 
force,  and  in  all  matters  affecting  the  welfare  and 
the  status  of  the  Jews  differentiated  as  they  are  from 
their  fellow  citizens  by  their  faith,  it  is  certainly  meet 
and  proper  that  this  organization  should  have  a  voice. 
Although  the  Conference  has  not  always  been  given 
in  past  years  the  consideration  due  its  representative 
character  by  other  organizations  claiming  to  speak 
for  the  Jews,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  future 
whenever  critical  situations  arise  requiring  spokesmen 
for  Judaism  and  Jewry  at  Washington  and  elsewhere, 
the  spiritual  leadership  whereof  our  Conference  is  the 
national  representative  will  be  called  into  cooperation. 
In  interests  affecting  all  Jewry,  there  should  be,  nay, 
there  may  be  no  overlapping,  no  working  at  cross 
purposes,  no  desire  for  the  personal  glorification  or 
aggrandizement  of  any  special  organization;  there  is 
glory  enough  to  go  around  if  glory  is  desired ;  only  let 
there  be  true  and  hearty  cooperaion  in  all  common 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  225 


causes.  The  Conference,  by  having  appointed  the 
Committee  on  Cooperation,  has  declared  its  position 
in  this  matter;  may  its  action  be  met  in  a  similar 
spirit  by  other  organizations  of  national  character 
for  the  result  of  such  efficient  and  hearty  cooperation 
can  not  but  be  beneficial  in  every  way  and  can  not 
but  make  for  that  higher  unity  which  despite  all  the 
minor  differences  which  divide  Jews  is  real  and 
fundamental.  This  unity  the  Conference  is  ever  eager 
to  emphasize,  as  has  been  amply  shown  time  and 
again,  and  as  is  so  clearly  evident  from  the  fact  that 
among  its  Standing  Committees  it  has  placed  this 
Committee  on  Cooperation  with  National  Organiza- 
tions. 

I  have  passed  in  review  what  appear  to  me  the 
leading  principles  and  the  striking  achievements  of 
the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis.  During 
these  twenty-five  years  of  its  existence  the  Conference 
has  been  a  distinct  religious  force  in  Jewish  life.  It 
presents  a  unique  phenomenon.  Never  in  the  history 
of  Judaism  has  there  been  anything  quite  like  it,  a 
rabbinical  organization  having  a  continuous  existence 
of  this  length.  The  Conference  has  grown  constantly. 
Numerically,  it  is  the  largest  rabbinical  organization 
in  the  world.  It  is  truly  national  in  scope  and  inter- 
national in  sympathy.  It  combines  within  its  mem- 
bership the  rabbis  of  the  East  and  the  West,  the 
North  and  the  South  of  our  country.  Through  it  the 
sectional  differences  of  a  former  generation  have  been 
healed;  it  has  united  in  the  bond  of  fellowship  with 
few  exceptions  all  the  rabbis  of  liberal  tendencies 
and  has  thus  become  in  all  truth  the  great  national 


226  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

rabbinical  organization  of  the  progressive  school  of 
our  faith.  But  though  the  association  of  the  spiritual 
guides  of  Reform  Judaism,  the  Conference  has  through 
out  its  career  been  so  broad  in  its  sympathies  that  all 
matters  of  import  to  Judaism  at  large  have  received 
its  consideration.  No  movement  of  worldwide  im- 
portance or  international  significance  as  affecting  Jewy 
but  has  engaged  its  attention.  And  further,  as  has 
abundantly  appeared  from  the  review  of  its  past, 
nothing  human  has  been  foreign  to  its  deliberations. 
The  ethical  spirit,  which  is  the  prophetic  spirit,  is 
the  mainspring  of  its  activities.  It  has  finely  sus- 
tained the  highest  traditions  of  Jewish  idealism  and 
universalism,  founding  upon  all  the  noble  endeavor  of 
our  great  worthies,  the  rabbis  and  sages  that  make  the 
Jewish  name  glorious  and  contributing  its  share 
towards  preserving  and  developing  the  eternal  truths 
which  are  the  very  seal  of  God. 

The  Conference  is  now  entering  upon  the  semi- 
centennial of  its  corporate  life.  Institutions  endure, 
individuals  pass.  Many  of  the  charter  members  have 
been  called  from  this  earth,  but  this  great  institution 
which  they  assisted  the  illustrious  founder  in  calling 
into  being,  lives,  and  unless  all  signs  fail,  will  grow 
ever  stronger  and  sturdier  as  the  years  come  and  go. 
The  conference  has  had  this  fine  growth  because  it 
combines  the  two  great  principles  of  Conservatism 
and  Liberalism.  It  is  Conservative  in  that  it  con- 
tinues the  traditions  of  our  Reform  Judaism,  for 
paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  Reform  Judaism  has  its 
traditions;  we  can  now  speak  of  Historical  Reform, 
and  the  Conference  is  the  representative  of  the  spirit 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS  227 

of  Historical  Reform;  the  spirit  of  historical  Reform 
senses  the  religious  needs  of  the  Jewish  community 
in  the  modern  environment  and  avoids  the  erraticisms 
of  sensationalism  and  the  fads  and  fancies  of  the 
passing  day.  It  is  liberal  in  that  the  dead  hand  of 
the  past  has  never  been  permitted  to  rest  upon  it, 
but  the  living  voice  of  the  present  has  always  been 
given  heed  to.  It  has  aimed  to  conserve  the  best  in 
our  Jewish  traditions;  it  has  sought  to  interpret  these 
traditions  in  the  light  of  growing  thought  and  thus 
to  meet  the  religious  problems  of  the  present  genera- 
tion. Those  of  us  who  were  present  at  the  birth  of 
the  Conference,  and  who,  under  God's  providence, 
have  been  spared  to  participate  in  the  joy  of  this 
anniversary  hour,  and  those  others  who  have  become 
affiliated  with  the  Conference  during  this  quarter 
century  unite  tonight  in  a  prayer  of  thankfulness  to 
our  God  for  all  that  we  through  our  Conference  have 
been  privileged  to  achieve  in  the  furtherance  of  the 
tasks  committed  to  our  care. 

We  are  united  with  all  the  past  of  high  endeavor ; 
what  the  Rabbis  of  former  generations  were  for  their 
time  and  place,  we  are  for  our  time  and  place,  this 
twentieth  century,  these  United  States.  Some  men  of 
great  gifts  in  the  past  have  left  their  individual 
impress  upon  the  developing  course  of  Judaism, 
undoubtedly  some  men  of  marked  powers  in  the  presen  t 
will  leave  their  individual  mark  upon  the  generation 
now  living,  but,  whether  great  or  small,  whether  of 
wide  renown  or  limited,  all  of  us,  through  this  our 
Conference,  which  unites  us  in  brotherly  bonds,  are 
making  our  united  influence  felt  and  are  serving 


228  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

coming  generations.  True,  then,  let  us  be  to  the 
bond  that  unites  us,  service  to  our  faith  and  humanity 
through  our  Conference.  The  record  of  the  past 
twenty-five  years  is  secure.  Upon  the  foundation  of 
that  past  we  shall  continue  to  build.  In  this  anni- 
versary hour,  filled  with  sacred  memories  as  it  is, 
when  the  transfigured  forms  of  those  whom  we  loved 
and  who  toiled  with  us  fill  our  vision,  let  us,  my  dear 
colleagues  and  brethren,  consecrate  ourselves  anew 
to  the  high  cause  to  which  we  have  devoted  our  lives, 
so  that,  whatever  may  betide,  we,  as  members  of 
this  Conference,  conscious  of  our  responsibilities  and 
grateful  for  our  opportunities,  may  be  zealous  for 
the  truth,  and  as  real  messengers  of  God  stand 
before  the  people,  working  here  together  in  our  great 
common  cause.  So  shall  we  individually  and  unitedly 
contribute  our  share,  be  it  much  or  be  it  little,  to  the 
endeavor  of  the  ages  and  assist  towards  the  fulfillment 
of  the  prophetic  hope  for  the  coming  of  the  day  when 
the  knowledge  of  God  shall  fill  the  earth  as  the 
waters  cover  the  seas. 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE* 

WHEN  my  fellow-members  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee did  me  the  honor  of  requesting  me  to 
deliver  the  conference  sermon  this  year,  I  could  not 
but  devote  thought  to  what  such  a  sermon  should  be 
and  what  manner  of  subject  it  should  treat.  For 
I  take  it  that  there  should  be  something  distinctive 
in  a  deliverance  of  this  kind,  just  as  there  is  in  a 
baccalaureate  sermon,  a  dedication  sermon,  or  any 
sermon  for  a  special  occasion.  To  preach  a  sermon 
along  similar  lines  as  on  Sabbath  or  holiday  before 
the  average  congregation  would  be  a  work  of  super- 
erogation before  this  body  and  in  this  place.  I  am 
fully  conscious  of  the  difficulty  of  the  task  of  preach- 
ing to  preachers;  aware  of  my  limitations  as  I  am,  and 
awake  to  the  seriousness  of  the  duty  I  have  assumed, 
I  make  bold  at  the  outset  to  request  you  to  receive 
what  I  may  have  to  say  in  the  same  brotherly  spirit 
in  which  the  words  are  spoken;  for  though  in  places 
I  may  appear  censorious,  I  speak  as  I  do  only  because 
I  feel  that  there  is  a  time  to  speak  as  well  as  a  time 
to  keep  silence,  and  that  there  are  certain  things  in 
our  relation  as  rabbis  to  our  congregations  and  to 
Judaism  at  large  which  are  not  as  they  should  be  and 
which  should  receive  full,  earnest  and  careful  con- 
sideration at  our  hands. 

I  believe  that  no  one  will  deny  that  the  effect  of 
the  pulpit  upon  the  pew  is  for  good  or  ill  according  to 

*Conference  Sermon  at  meeting  of  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis,  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  June  26,  1904. 

229 


230  CENTENARY  PAI'ERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  point  of  view  from  which  the  preacher  regards 
his  work.  To  express  just  what  I  want  to  say, 
I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  transposing  the  prophetical 
phrase  |H33  Djn  (Hosea  IV.  9),  so  as  to  make  it  read 
DJJ3  t'"i33,  "like  priest,  like  people."  This  will  serve 
as  the  text  whereon  I  shall  base  what  remarks 
I  have  to  make;  like  priest,  like  people,  yes;  are  we 
sufficiently  conscious  of  this?  Do  we  all  keep  before 
us  as  constantly  as  we  should  the  tremendous  in- 
fluence of  our  individual  attitude  as  preachers  upon 
the  religious  outlook  of  the  people?  Are  we  all  as 
alive  as  we  should  be  to  the  fact  that  with  us  it  lies 
in  great  part  to  make  the  cause  for  which  we  stand 
respected  in  the  eyes  of  men  or  the  object  of  unconcern 
and  indifference?  Is  the  purpose  with  us  in  all  our 
waking  hours,  as  it  surely  ought  to  be,  to  place  the 
truth  above  thought  of  self,  to  scorn  the  arrogant 
dictations  of  such  "whose  armorial  bearing  is  the 
almighty  dollar,"  even  though  it  jeopardize  our  popu- 
larity, to  be  the  sentinels  on  the  watch-towers  of 
Zion,  prophets  with  head  in  air,  whose  voices  are 
trumpet-calls  pointing  out  fault  and  shortcoming, 
rather  than  time-serving  politicians  in  the  pulpit, 
with  ear  to  the  ground  listening  to  the  direction  in 
which  the  popular  currents  are  blowing?  We  stand 
as  individuals  in  our  pulpits;  as  individuals  our  in- 
fluence is  uplifting,  indifferent  or  debasing,  as  the 
case  may  be,  as  we  determine.  The  prophet  of  old 
bewailed  the  time  when  Israel  was  as  a  flock  without 
shepherds,  worthy  leaders  to  stand  at  the  head  cf  the 
community;  truly,  ^Kit?1  p^K,  Israel  is  widowed — 
yea,  worse  than  widowed — if  those  who  stand  in  the 
leader's  place  make  light  of  their  mission  and  the 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  231 

Zedekiahs  ben  Chanaanah  usurp  the  place  of  the 
Micaiahs  ben  Imlah;  this  let  us  never  forget, 
DJ?3  JH33,  like  priest,  like  people;  the  man  stamps  his 
individuality  upon  his  work;  notably  in  this  age  of 
uncertain,  shifting  religious  conditions,  he  who  stands 
as  a  tower  of  strength  will  be  indeed  the  refuge  for 
struggling  souls  whose  grasp  upon  the  realities  of 
time  and  eternity  has  been  loosened  owingr  to  the  dis- 
integrating influences  everywhere  at  work. 

If  we  would  add  a  stone  to  the  edifice  that  Israel's 
leaders  have  been  constructing  throughout  the  ages, 
we  will  succeed  in  doing  so  only  if  we  are  fully  pos- 
sessed of  the  faith  that  we  can,  that  with  us  advances, 
stands  still,  or  retrogrades,  the  work.  It  will  not  do 
for  us  to  constantly  complain  of  the  indifference  of  the 
people  and  the  irreligion  of  the  age.  It  is  true  the 
people  are  indifferent ;  it  is  true  the  age  is  not  so  deeply 
concerned  with  purely  religious  matters  as  former 
ages  have  been.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  us,  I  take 
it,  who  has  not  in  moments  of  despair  cried  out  in 
bitterness  of  soul  against  the  indifference,  irreligion 
and  materialism  of  the  people.  Here,  there  and 
everywhere  jeremiads  are  uttered  in  the  pulpit  so 
bitter,  so  despairing,  so  depressing,  that  one  wonders 
whether  there  is  any  hope  at  all  for  the  future  if  these 
dark  pictures  reflect  the  true  state  of  affairs.  Just 
as  it  has  grown  customary  for  laymen  to  blame  the 
rabbis  for  all  the  ills  in  the  Jewish  body  religious,  so 
are  we  given  in  many  instances  to  throwing  all  the 
responsibility  for  the  light  esteem  in  which  religion 
and  the  pulpit  are  held  upon  the  laity,  in  accordance 
with  the  old  maxim,  pp^n  p«  D5?n  ^6<n  v*v  D1p»  {>3 
3~6  1133  "wherever  the  spirit  of  irreligion  is  rampant, 


232  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

proper  respect  is  not  shown  to  the  rabbi"  (Ber.  19b). 

In  all  likelihood  the  truth  of  the  matter  lies  some- 
where between  these  extremes.  The  irreligion  of 
the  age  is  a  convenient  phrase;  we  can  readily  dismiss 
all  responsibility  by  placing  upon  this  scapegoat  all 
the  sins  of  the  house  of  Israel  and  all  our  own  short- 
comings. But  this  will  not  satisfy  earnest  men,  and 
as  such  we  are  here  assembled. 

Let  me  take  up  first  that  aspect  of  this  question 
which  can  not  but  concern  us  as  rabbis  more  closely 
than  any  other.  I  refer  to  the  notorious  fact  that 
the  pulpit  does  not  attract  the  pick  of  our  young  men 
as  do  the  other  professions.  Where  a  hundred  enter 
the  legal,  medical,  engineering  and  academic  pro- 
fessions, one  gives  himself  to  the  pulpit.  Wherein 
lies  the  cause  for  this?  Is  it  due  purely  to  the  irre- 
ligion of  the  age?  or  is  it  due  in  part  to  the  pulpit 
itself?  Is  the  pulpit  recreant  to  its  charge,  do  the 
men  who  occupy  the  pulpit  fail  to  invest  it  with 
that  dignity  and  worth  as  would  make  it  seem  the 
finest  post  for  high-minded  men  to  occupy?  What 
is  the  reason  for  the  change  which  has  come  upon 
Jewish  thought  in  this  matter?  Time  was  when  a 
Jewish  parent  considered  it  the  greatest  blessing  if 
his  son  became  a  rabbi  in  Israel  and  when  the  Jewish 
Croesus  regarded  it  the  highest  hcnor  to  ally  himself 
by  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  a  noted  rabbinical 
family.  That  period  is  certainly  past.  Consider, 
too,  the  evidence  from  the  inside.  Within  the  past 
few  years  four  young  rabbis  occupying  honorable 
positions  have  stepped  out  of  the  ministry.  It  is 
not  betraying  confidence  to  state  that  a  number  of 
candidates  for  the  ministrv  have  come  to  me  and 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  233 

stated  the  doubts  and  perplexities  that  beset  them, 
and  their  purpose  to  enter  some  other  field  of  en- 
deavor. It  is  not  more  than  two  months  since  an 
open  letter  was  published  by  a  rabbi  standing  in  the 
very  forefront  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  a  young 
man  desirous  of  entering  the  ministry,  in  which  the 
questioner  was  solemnly  warned  not  to  do  so,  and  with 
all  the  force  of  expression  for  which  the  writer  is 
noted  he  set  forth  at  great  length  the  reasons  why 
the  pulpit  today  is  unattractive  to  young  men  of  parts. 
Where  lies  the  reason  for  this  consensus  of  opinion 
without  and  within?  Jewish  parents  regard  the 
pulpit  with  disfavor  as  a  life-work  for  their  sons; 
Jewish  ministers  leave  the  profession,  or  advise  others 
not  to  enter  it.  Of  course  it  will  be  said  that  where 
one  rabbi  deserts  the  pulpit  a  score  remain  faithful, 
where  one  rabbi  advises  a  candidate  not  to  enter  the 
profession  a  score  may  advise  differently.  But 
straws  show  which  way  the  wind  blows,  and  these 
are  very  significant  straws.  Why  then,  I  ask  again, 
this  veiled  if  not  open  disfavor  evinced  toward  the 
pulpit?  Why  is  it  the  exception  and  not  the  rule  for 
a  son  of  the  so-called  good  families  to  enter  our  rab- 
binical colleges?  I  know  the  reasons  that  have  been 
given  by  our  religious  diagnosticians.  Chief  among 
these  is  the  material  one  that  other  professions  pay 
better  and  that  the  Jewish  parent,  practical  as  he  is, 
in  selecting  a  career  for  his  son  has  his  eye  directed  to 
the  material  welfare.  But  then  it  may  be  asked  in 
turn,  granting  that  this  is  true, — and  I  know  in- 
stances in  which  it  was  the  deciding  factor-why  does 
not  this  great  work  so  appeal  to  rich  parents  who  can 
leave  their  sons  a  competency  as  will  place  them 


234  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

beyond  all  need,  or  why  does  it  not  appeal  to  rich 
young  men  into  whose  calculations  the  material 
consideration  need  not  enter  at  all?  The  cause, 
therefore,  lies  deeper  than  the  mere  question  of 
money.  Then  there  is  the  reason  dwelt  upon  in  the 
open  letter  to  which  I  have  referred,  viz.,  the  depend- 
ence of  the  pulpit  on  the  good  will  of  congregational 
magnates  and  the  disdain  in  which  the  position  and 
the  cause  are  held;  it  is  claimed  that,  knowing  the 
conditions  that  obtain  in  many  Jewish  congregations, 
self-respecting,  high-minded  and  idealistic  young  men 
hesitate  before  subjecting  themselves  to  the  indig- 
nities which  many  an  occupant  of  the  Jewish  pulpit 
is  compelled  to  undergo  at  the  hands  of  rich  vul- 
garians and  upstart  parvenus,  who  often  hold  a 
commanding  place  in  congregational  councils.  And 
then,  to  mention  only  one  more  of  the  reasons  that 
have  been  given  for  this  state  of  affairs,  viz.,  that 
the  Jewish  pulpit  is  not  peculiar  in  this,  that  it  is  a 
sign  of  the  times,  that  the  same  cry  is  being  heard  in 
Christian  denominations,  and  that  leaders  of  thought 
in  the  Christian  world  are  bewailing  this  same  ten- 
dency of  college-bred  young  men  to  think  of  the 
ministry  last  as  a  life-work,  when  sixty  or  seventy 
years  ago  it  held  the  first  place.  And  the  mediaeval 
proverb  which  has  done  service  so  often  is  called  into 
play,  wie  es  sich  christelt  jtiedelt  es  sich.  That  this 
same  phenomenon  is  visible  in  the  Christian  world 
can  not  be  disputed,  but  I  take  it  that  the  cause  if 
absolutely  different  than  with  us.  I  remember  read- 
ing about  a  year  ago  a  remarkable  article  written  by 
one  of  the  strong  thinkers  of  the  English  Church 
entitled  "The  Reluctance  of  Young  Men  to  Take 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  235 


Orders;"  in  this  study  the  writer  pointed  to  this  same 
state  of  affairs  that  I  am  discussing.  The  reason, 
however,  which  he  gave  was  that  the  established 
creed  of  the  English  Church,  which  the  candidate  for 
orders  was  compelled  to  subscribe  to,  demanded 
belief  in  dogmas  which  are  outgrown,  and  he  con- 
tended that  until  this  creed  is  modified  so  as  to 
bring  it  into  harmony  with  the  intellectual  outlook 
of  the  present,  young  men  who  are  best  worth  having, 
young  men  who  will  not  juggle  with  terms,  young 
men  to  whom  truth  is  the  first  thing  in  the  world 
no  matter  what  is  second,  will  be  kept  away  from 
the  church.  Much  the  same  must  be  the  case 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  its  medieaval  con- 
fession of  faith,  which  has  driven  many  strong  men 
from  that  communion.  But  this  Christian  condition 
does  not  hold  in  Judaism.  There  is  no  such  problem 
among  us.  Judaism  requires  no  subscription  to 
dogmas  or  doctrines  at  variance  with  reason  or  the 
intellectual  standards  of  modern  man.  With  us 
there  is  thorough  intellectual  freedom.  Hence  this 
suggestion  that  the  reason  why  the  rabbinical  office 
is  not  sought  by  the  intellectual  and  social  elite  is  to 
be  found  in  the  similar  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
Christian  world  does  not  hold,  for  the  parallel  is  in- 
complete; of  course  one  fact  can  not  be  blinked  as 
present  in  both  the  Christian  and  the  Jewish  camps 
which  is  of  weight,  and  this  is  that  where  in  a  former 
age  religion  occupied  the  first  and  foremost  place 
and  all  things  were  subservient  to  it,  our  scientific 
age  has  directed  the  view  of  men  to  the  tangible  and 
visible  things  of  earth  and  the  spiritual  and  invisible 
have  been  relegated  to  the  second  place.  This, 


236  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


together  with  the  other  reasons  which  I  have  hinted 
at  above,  explain  in  part  the  phenomenon  under 
discussion.  But  it  is  not  the  whole  explanation. 
These  are  the  conditions  outside  of  the  pulpit  and  the 
ministry.  May  there  not  be  reasons  also  within  our 
charmed  circle?  Is  it  not  possible  that  the  reason  for 
the  lesser  consideration  in  which  the  pulpit  is  held 
may  be  found  in  the  thought  flowing  from  our  text, 
"like  priest,  like  people?"  May  it  not  be  that  in  some 
measure  the  pulpit  is  at  fault  and  that  in  some 
degree  at  least  we  can  so  correct  certain  conditions 
as  to  raise  the  pulpit  and  the  profession  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  people?  Let  us  then  look  into  and 
examine  the  ways  and  the  methods  in  vogue  and  in 
the  spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness  try  to  arrive  at  some 
serviceable  results. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  there  will  be  weak-kneed 
brethren  who  will  shake  their  heads  doubtfully  as  to 
the  wisdom  and  propriety  of  such  a  proceeding. 
Such  will  think  even  if  they  do  not  openly  say  it, 
that  the  pulpit  has  critics  and  detractors  enough 
without  and  that  it  is  the  part  of  loyalty  for  us  who 
stand  in  the  pulpit  to  defend  it,  sho\v  forth  its  strength 
and  conceal  its  weaknesses  if  it  has  any.  Surelv  the 
chauvinistic  policy  is  always  a  mistaken  one;  the  true 
patriot  is  not  he  who  shouts  the  loudest  and  subscribes 
to  the  dictum,  "my  country,  right  or  wrong,"  but 
it  is  he  who  after  recognizing  wrongs  and  shortcomings 
calls  attention  to  them  and  makes  the  right  take  the 
place  of  the  wrong,  the  true  the  place  of  the  false; 
so  also  in  every  walk  of  life;  'Np  ^  Xlp-E?  'Hp  KBenp 
"truth  endures,  falsehood  endures  not,"  however 
assiduously  we  may  strive  to  bolster  it  up ;  if  there  be 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  237 

shortcomings  in  our  profession  then  in  God's  name  let 
us  be  strong  enough  and  brave  enough  to  recognize 
them  and  name  them;  if  there  be  tendencies  in  the 
ministry  that  conduce  toward  lowering  the  pulpit  from 
the  high  place  it  should  hold  in  the  estimation  of  the 
people,  then  let  us  pluck  them  out  of  our  midst;  if  it 
be  indeed  true,  DV3  jn23  that  the  people's  attitude  has 
been  determined  by  any  lack  among  the  rabbis,  then 
it  is  our  first  duty  to  consider  this  carefully  and  do 
what  we  can  individually  and  collectively  toward 
betterment  and  improvement.  I  do  not  presume  for  one 
moment  to  say  that  this  is  universally  the  case.  I  recall 
with  reverential  feeling  the  many  tried  and  true  men 
who  have  shed  lustre  upon  the  Jewish  name  by 
their  life-long  toil  in  the  pulpit,  who  by  their  learning 
graced  the  position,  by  their  devotion  ennobled  it, 
by  their  fealty  to  principle  dignified  it,  by  their 
helpfulness  to  the  people  glorified  it;  the  roll  of 
rabbis  known  and  unknown,  sung  and  unsung,  who 
for  over  two  thousand  years  have  led  the  Jewish 
communities  the  world  over  is  indeed  Israel's  roll 
of  honor!  nor  has  the  glory  all  departed;  there  are 
still  all  over  this  world,  in  other  lands  and  in  our 
own,  men  occupying  the  pulpits  who  are  worthy 
of  standing  in  the  company  of  the  best  of  all  the  ages ; 
this  goes  almost  without  saying;  but  with  all  this  it 
has  yet  happened  in  the  experience  of  most  of  us  to 
have  been  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  does 
not  exist  to-day  that  traditional  Jewish  reverential 
sentiment  toward  the  rabbi  which  found  expression 
in  the  words  D*»B>  Kiioa  -pi  soiO.  This  brings  us  to  the 
crucial  point  of  the  subject  in  hand.  If  this  sentiment 
has  disappeared  what  can  we  do  toward  resuscitating  it 


238  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

at  least  in  part  in  the  face  of  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
caused  by  the  change  of  front  of  the  world  in  regard  to 
religion  and  religious  concerns.  Of  all  things  let  us  not 
lull  our  consciences  to  sleep  by  the  application  of  the 
stupifying  narcotic  of  laissez  alter,  that  it  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  stem  the  tide  and  that  individual  effort  in 
conflict  with  universal  sentiment  is  like  a  pigmy  batter- 
ing at  an  impregnable  fortress.  Ah!  but  it  is  individual- 
ism that  counts  just  here;  the  individual  rabbi  in  the 
individual  community;  you  and  I  are  in  great  measure 
individually  responsible;  it  is  the  course  of  each  one 
rabbi  in  each  one  community  that  is  a  mighty  factor 
in  determining  the  attitude  of  the  community  toward 
the  cause  the  rabbi  represents;  since  the  day  of  the 
prophet  Ezekiel  this  is  good  Jewish  doctrine;  so 
then  in  this  aspect  this  is  of  vital  burning  concern 
to  us;  much  as  he  would,  not  one  can  disencumber 
himself  from  this  obligation  if  he  looks  upon  his 
calling  as  a  sacred  trust  and  not  merely  as  the  spade 
wherewith  to  dig. 

First,  then,  there  is  here  as  everywhere  the  per- 
sonal equation.  The  respect  for  the  pulpit  and  the 
cause  of  Judaism  rises  and  falls  with  its  occupant. 
It  is  notorious  that  much  of  the  contempt  which  was 
felt  for  the  pulpit  in  quite  a  number  of  communities 
in  an  earlier  day  was  due  to  the  fact  that  many  un- 
worthy men  who,  were  no  more  fitted  to  preach  the 
word  of  religious  truth  than  a  mountebank,  palmed 
themselves  off  as  rabbis  upon  unsuspecting  com- 
munities. These  were  frequently  individuals  of 
unsavory  character  and  they  brought  the  calling 
into  disrepute.  This  unfortunate  conditions  of  affairs 
was  one  of  the  reasons  that  led  our  great  leader,  Dr. 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  239 

Wise,  of  blessed  memory,  to  agitate  so  long  and  so 
constantly  for  the  foundation  of  a  theological  seminary 
where  men  might  be  trained  who  would  raise  the 
tone  of  the  profession  and  from  whose  ranks  the 
Jewish  communities  who  had  been  in  so  many  instances 
so  ill-served  might  secure  guides  with  a  truer  per- 
spective of  the  necessities  and  proprieties  of  the 
situation.  God  forbid  that  I  be  understood  as 
claiming  that  there  were  no  worthy  men  in  American 
Jewish  pulpits  before  the  Hebrew  Union  College 
was  founded,  but  there  can  be  no  manner  of  coubt 
that  while  a  number  of  renowned  leaders  whose  names 
stand  highest  on  the  register,  were  at  the  head  of 
some  congregations,  the  smaller  communities  were 
in  a  large  measure  at  the  mercy  of  men  of  whom  the 
least  said  the  better.  That  condition  at  any  rate  has 
been  improved  and  the  scandalous  state  of  affairs  of 
that  earlier  day  has  passed  away,  let  us  hope,  forever 
and  for  aye.  From  the  contemplation  of  the  sorry 
condition  into  which  men  of  that  ilk  degraded  the 
pulpit  we  are  startlingly  impressed  with  the  tremendous 
significance  of  the  personal  equation.  Truly,  "like 
priest,  like  people" ;  the  people  took  their  cue  and  their 
view  from  the  preacher's  acts,  and  so  do  they  still 
today,  so  will  they  in  the  future.  May  I  be  permitted 
to  paraphrase  an  ancient  word  of  warning  to  make  it 
fit  the  case  in  hand?  "Ye  rabbis,  be  careful  of  your 
words  and  acts  .  .  .  ;  the  congregations  who  listen 
to  you  and  are  guided  by  you  may  drink  and  die  and 
the  name  of  Heaven  be  profaned." 

In  our  individual  self-searching  and  probing  there 
comes  this  further  question,  do  we  take  our  work  so 
seriously  that  we  place  it  above  all  else?  Are  we 


240  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

determined  to  force  the  recognition  of  the  dignity 
of  the  pulpit  even  from  the  reluctant?  Have  we 
made  of  ourselves  "a  defenced  city,  an  iron  pillar  and 
brazen  walls"  against  the  modern  "kings  of  Judah 
and  the  people  of  the  land?"  Have  we  abiding  faith 
in  the  word  that  came  to  Jeremiah,  "they  shall  fight 
thee,  but  they  shall  not  prevail  against  thee;  for  I  am 
with  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  to  deliver  thee."  For 
just  as  truly  as  the  life  of  the  prophet  of  old  was  a 
fight  and  a  struggle  so  is  that  of  the  prophet  of  to-day, 
for  that  is  what  the  true  preacher  is  and  must  be 
when  all  is  told.  Have  we  set  up  a  certain  ideal  for 
our  work?  Have  we  the  strength  to  withstand  the 
presumptuous  demands  that  individuals  wise  in  their 
own  conceit,  undertake  to  make  upon  us  from  time 
to  time?  Have  we  set  out  with  the  purpose  to  preach 
Judaism  and  to  give  the  Jewish  interpretation  of  the 
facts  of  life?  Have  we  persisted  in  this,  for  this  is 
after  all  our  work  and  our  mission  as  Jewish  preachers 
in  spite  of  the  constant  and  insistent  cry  that  has  been 
dinned  into  the  ears  of  all  of  us  for  less  Judaism,  less 
religion  in  the  pulpit  and  more  topics  of  the  day, 
scientific  talks,  artistic  analyses,  literary  digests? 
For  let  us  never  forget  this,  that  if  we  are  anything 
at  all  we  are  experts  in  religious  and  ethical  teaching , 
and  that,  too,  from  the  Jewish  standpoint;  here  we 
have  the  right  to  demand  a  hearing;  in  all  else,  unless 
there  be  universal  geniuses  among  us,  we  are  only 
amateurs,  and  we  cheapen  our  cause  in  the  estimation 
of  the  discerning,  whose  judgment,  after  all,  is  the 
only  one  worth  considering,  by  lecturing  on  all 
subjects  under  the  sun. 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  241 

Let  us  keep  our  pulpits  true  to  their  purpose,  giving 
them  a  character  all  their  own;  the  best  informed 
among  us  can  not  attempt  to  vie  with  the  college 
or  university  teacher  in  his  specialty;  a  fine  thinker 
has  written  very  recently,  "the  less  the  preacher  tries 
to  compete  with  the  lecturer  and  the  journalist  in 
these  times  of  specialization  the  better";  in  this 
day  of  the  magazine  and  the  popular  lecture  the 
people  certainly  need  not  us  to  popularize  the  re- 
searches of  students;  let  us  not  attempt  to  compete 
with  these  agencies,  for  even  though  the  people  be 
interested  for  a  time  it  will  form  a  Pyrrhic  victory. 
The  ultimate  loss  will  far  outweigh  the  temporary 
triumph;  our  Jewish  literature,  our  Jewish  endeavor, 
our  Jewish  point  of  view,  these  are  our  specialty 
and  though  our  building  erected  on  these  foundations 
rise  but  slowly,  it  will  rise  surely  and  we  will  do 
yoeman's  work  in  the  cause  wherein  we  are  enlisted. 

Further,  brethren,  do  we  always  put  our  cause  first 
and  ourselves  second?  Have  we  the  purpose  to 
make  the  pulpit  respected  no  matter  what  the  effect 
on  our  personal  popularity  may  be?  Is  it  not  sadly 
true  that  there  is  a  tendency  to-day  in  many  rab- 
binical quarters  to  stand  pat  with  the  people  at  the 
expense  of  rabbincial  dignity?  Most  ingenious  devices 
are  being  invented  whereby  the  good  will  of  parish- 
ioners may  be  gained  and  retained;  again  "like  priest, 
like  people";  how  can  the  people  have  the  proper  re- 
spect for  the  position  if  the  rabbi  descends  to  the 
use  of  the  methods  of  the  ward  politician,  if  he  preaches 
in  season  and  out  of  season  that  all  is  well  in  Jewry, 
that  the  life  of  the  people  can  not  be  improved  upon ; 


242  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

the  word  may  become  current  among  the  people  that 
the  rabbi  is  a  nice  fellow,  that  he  is  a  good  mixer,  that 
he  is  clubable,  and  so  forth;  he  may  advance  thereby 
his  own  personal  welfare  but  he  contributes  nothing, 
nay,  on  the  contrary  he  detracts  from  the  dignity  and 
worth  wherewith  he  should  hedge  his  position  about ; 
you  remember  that  apt  word  of  the  Talmud  (Ket. 
105b):  "If  a  learned  man  is  overly  popular  with  his 
townspeople  it  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that  they  re- 
cognize his  excellence,  but  that  he  does  not  correct 
them  for  their  faults."  The  truth  speaker,  the  man 
with  a  message,  has  neither  the  time  nor  the  inclina- 
tion to  work  out  plans  and  schemes  for  winning  the 
favor  of  his  constituents;  this  is  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  form  of  personal  bribery ;  work  D'»B>  ovb 
is  the  only  standard  worthy  of  men  in  our  profession , 
yes,  of  true  men  in  any  profession  or  occupation;  in 
my  own  city  a  noted  judge,  who  has  gained  the  highest 
place  in  the  estimation  of  his  townspeople  because  of 
his  fearlessness  and  his  faithfulness  to  high  ideals 
was  tendered  recently  a  testimonial  by  his  fellow 
citizens  upon  his  retirement  from  the  bench.  At  the 
close  of  his  address  in  response  to  the  compliments 
showered  upon  him  he  used  certain  words  which  bear 
repetition  and  comport  well  with  what  I  have  said  on 
this  portion  of  my  theme:  "Let  a  man  stand  as  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  was  said  to  stand — four  square  to 
all  the  winds  that  blow.  Let  him,  as  Captain  Letter- 
blair  says  in  the  play,  be  honest  because  honesty  is 
the  best  policy,  and  even  if  it  is  not,  be  honest  any- 
way. Let  him  stand,  as  Emerson  says,  squarely  on 
his  feet  and  the  great  huge  world  will  come  round  to 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  243 


him,  and  if  it  does  not  come  round  to  him,  let  it  go 
where   it   belongs." 

Another  point,  friends.  Do  we  all  give  our  es- 
sential task  the  consideration  it  should  have?  This 
essential  task  is  without  a  doubt  preaching.  Now 
preaching  that  shall  appeal  to  earnest  minded  men  and 
women,  preaching  that  shall  invest  a  pulpit  with 
strength,  preaching  that  shall  be  worthy  the  name 
requires  the  best  thought  and  the  most  conscientious 
preparation  that  we  can  give  to  it.  One  of  the 
greatest  preachers,  if  not  the  greatest  this  country 
has  ever  had,  constantly  and  consistently  refused  to 
be  drawn  into  any  side  paths  and  into  any  side  work 
that  would  consume  his  energies;  he  held  that  he  was 
a  preacher  first  and  last,  and  that  all  his  strongest 
endeavor  and  best  energy  belonged  to  his  pulpit. 
Must  it  not  follow,  as  does  the  night  the  day,  that 
such  a  pulpit  will  hold  a  very  high  place  among  the 
influences  in  the  people's  life,  and  must  it  not  follow, 
contrariwise,  that  the  pulpit  whence  commonplace 
platitudes  and  empty  phrases  are  preached  week 
after  week  will  be  below  par  in  the  estimation  of  all 
who  are  capable  of  forming  a  judgment?  Among 
my  acquaintances  there  is  none  whom  I  esteem 
more  highly  than  a  college-bred  man  who  is  deeply  in- 
terested in  Jewish  matters  and  yet  rarely  attends  the 
synagog  wherewith  his  family  is  affiliated.  I  was 
curious  to  know  the  reason  for  this  and  the  answer  I 
received  is  significant.  Said  my  friend:  "I  will  be 
perfectly  frank.  I  am  anxious  to  attend  service  and 
would  wrere  there  anything  in  the  sermon  to  edify  or 
stimulate  me,  but  the  man  who  stands  in  our  pulpit 
does  not  think,  and  hence  gives  me  nothing  to  think 


244  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


about.  His  sermons  are  words,  words,  words,  and 
instead  of  putting  me  into  the  mood  that  a  sermon 
should,  they  irritate  me  because  there  is  no  religious 
depth  or  soundness  to  them."  Now,  these  words 
were  spoken,  not  by  a  carping  critic,  but  by  a  thougnt- 
ful,  earnest,  religiously-minded  man  and  they  furnish 
food  for  reflection.  Is  our  pulpit  work  the  outcome 
of  hard,  sustained  and  constant  thought  or  do  we 
take  it  lightly?  Are  we  scholarly-minded  or  simply 
practically  bent?  Are  we  sensation  mongers  or 
truth  seekers?  Is  our  pulpit  work  a  sacred  trust  or 
only  a  means  of  livelihood?  Is  our  best  thought 
given  to  each  and  every  sermon  or  are  we  content 
with  a  few  hours'  preparation?  Thinking  is  hard 
work,  the  hardest  kind  of  work.  Is  this  hardest 
kind  of  work  apparent  in  the  pulpit  output?  These 
are  the  questions  which  occurred  to  me  after  the 
conversation  noted  above.  They  have  been  with  me 
ever  since  and  I  have  expressed  aloud  to  you  what 
I  have  been  considering  silently.  I  submit  the  mat- 
ter to  you  for  judgment.  Certainly  it  can  not  be 
gainsaid  that  the  pulpit  must  be  thoughtful  if  it  is 
to  obtain  and  retain  respect  and  estimation.  Again 
DJD  JH33 ;  the  people  sitting  under  such  preaching  will 
be  impressed  with  the  dignity  of  the  rabbi's  message, 
the  cause  that  he  in  his  person  represents  must  gain 
in  every  way. 

One  thing  more,  brethren,  and  I  will  have  finished. 
I  have  been  invigorated  more  than  I  can  say  by  my 
recent  studies  of  the  utterances  and  writings  of  the 
great  rabbis  who  were  the  protagonists  of  the  reform 
movement  in  Judaism.  The  principle  of  reform 
meant  something  for  them.  It  was  not  an  empty 


LIKE  PRIEST,  LIKE  PEOPLE  245 

phrase.  'I  could  not  help  but  compare  the  attitude  of 
Geiger  and  Holdheim,  the  Adlers  and  Einhorn, 
Samuel  Hirsch  and  Auerbach,  Salomon  and  Frank- 
furter, and  others  of  the  participants  in  the  rab- 
binical conferences  of  the  fifth  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century  with  the  hesitating  position  of  many  of  our 
number  to-day.  Ours  is  presumably  and  nominally 
a  conference  of  reform  rabbis.  We  are  rabbis  of 
Reform  Congregations.  Do  we  stand  for  principle? 
Or  are  we  willing  to  put  principle  on  or  off  like  a 
garment?  Are  reform  and  prophetic,  universalistic 
Judaism  living  issues  with  us  or  are  we,  too,  being 
swept  from  off  our  feet  by  the  wave  of  reaction  that 
is  threatening  to  engulf  a  certain  section  of  Jewry? 
The  cry  has  gone  forth,  backwards!  The  banner 
is  unfurled  with  the  watchwords  mediaevahsm, 
sentimental  romanticism,  Zionism.  Ours  it  is  to 
meet  that  cry  with  the  counter-shout  forward!  Ours 
it  is  to  hold  aloft  our  banner  with  the  motto,  reform, 
universalistic  Judaism,  world-wide  Messianism!  If 
the  people  are  confused,  if  they  know  not  what  their 
Judaism  really  signifies  it  is  due  in  great  part  to  the 
fact  that  unmistakable  and  strong  pronouncements  are 
not  made  from  our  pulpits  as  constantly  and  as 
firmly  as  they  should  be.  Here  and  there  a  powerful 
word  is  spoken,  but  one  misses  that  general  united 
effort  which  alone  can  produce  the  impression  of 
strength.  I  plead  then  for  constancy  to  the  ideas 
and  ideals  of  our  reform  movement!  Let  us  not  be 
affrighted  by  any  metropolitan  surrender  to  Ghetto- 
ism  and  reaction  ism.  If  the  pulpit  stands  firm  and 
unmoved  in  the  proclamation  of  all  that  our  American 
Reform  Judaism,  as  preached  and  fought  for  by 


246  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Isaac  M.  Wise  and  our  other  great  leaders,  signifies 
the  people  will  fall  into  line.  Let  there  be  no  waver- 
ing, no  half-hearted  doubts,  no  weak-kneed  sur- 
render on  the  part  of  those  who  occupy  the  leaders 
place,  and  this  must  react  upon  the  led;  like  priest, 
like  people.  We  have  principles,  let  us  preach  them. 
We  have  ideals,  let  us  proclaim  them.  To  prophetic 
Judaism  belongs  the  future;  let  not  our  faith  wax 
weak;  we,  too,  who  lead  the  way  to  the  new  promised 
land,  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  all  the  earth,  must 
needs  be  strong  and  of  good  courage,  as  Joshua  the 
leader  into  the  promised  land  of  old  was  bidden  to  be. 
Only  let  us  not  despair  nor  wax  faint  of  heart.  Let 
us  not  be  confused  by  the  cries  resounding  in  the 
Jewish  arena  but  convinced  that  we  are  the  vanguard, 
continue  our  course  undismayed  and  unafraid  until 
the  very  end. 

I  have  done.  I  thank  you  for  the  patience  with 
which  you  have  listened  to  what  I  have  had  to  say. 
These  things  have  long  been  in  my  heart.  I  have 
brought  them  to  your  attention  for  what  they  are 
worth  in  all  earnestness  and  sincerity.  May  they 
have  been  received  in  the  same  spirit.  We  are  be- 
ginning to-night  the  sixteenth  session  of  our  confer- 
ence. May  our  deliberations  tend  to  quicken  the 
enthusiasm  of  our  people  for  our  glorious  faith; 
may  the  spirit  of  love  and  brotherhood,  friendship  and 
peace  prevail  here;  may  we  bear  constantly  in  mind 
the  intent  of  the  word  "like  priest,  like  people,"  and 
so  be  faithful  to  the  responsibilities  that  rest  on  us 
as  the  messengers  of  the  good  tidings  of  the  Lord 
who  may  be  with  us  and  guide  us  in  the  light  of  His 
truth.  Amen! 


"WE  CAN  PREVAIL"* 

IT  is  just  thirty  years  lacking  one  month  since  the 
first  company  of  rabbis,  educated  in  an  American 
Jewish  theological  school  were  consecrated  to  their 
life's  work.  On  that  summer  day,  July  14,  in  the 
year  1883,  the  representatives  of  American  Jewry  from 
all  sections  of  the  country  had  gathered  in  this  city 
to  be  present  on  the  occasion  that  witnessed  the 
realization  of  the  dreams  and  hopes  of  many  years. 
Enthusiasm  ran  very  high;  strong  men  wept  tears 
of  joy  when  at  the  supreme  moment  the  unforgetable 
founder  and  first  president  of  the  Hebrew  Union 
College  ordained  his  first  four  spiritual  sons  as  rabbis 
in  Israel.  Since  that  day  many  have  been  ordained 
in  like  manner,  but  that  first  ordination  ceremony 
was  unique  in  that  it  opened  a  new  chapter  in  the 
history  of  American  Judaism.  It  is  altogether  natural 
that  that  scene  in  which  he  was  one  of  the  participants 
should  be  very  vivid  to-day  in  the  mind  of  the  present 
speaker.  Well  nigh  all  who  took  part  in  those 
exercises  as  well  as  a  great  number  of  those  who 
witnessed  the  ceremonny,  have  been  called  to  their 
eternal  reward;  their  memory  is  indeed  a  blessing. 

The  record  established  by  the  Hebrew  Union 
College  and  the  growth  of  Jewish  congregational 
activity  under  the  leadership  of  its  graduates  during 
the  past  three  decades,  give  ample  testimony  to  the 

*Baccalaureate  Sermon  at  Hebrew  Union  College  Commence- 
ment, June  14,  1913,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

247 


248  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

lasting  character  of  the  work  of  Isaac  M.  Wise  and 
his  devoted  followers.  The  little  one  has  become  a 
thousand.  A  gieat  institution  has  developed  from 
very  small  beginnings.  Momentous  changes  have 
taken  place  in  Jewish  life  in  this  country  during  the 
quarter  century  past;  the  Jewish  population,  owing 
to  enforced  immigration  from  Eastern  Europe,  has 
increased  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands;  new  problems 
unknown  to  past  generations  have  arisen;  activities 
undreamt  of  in  the  mid  nineteenth  century  are  en- 
grossing the  attention  of  the  present  generation;  but 
in  all  this  change  and  readjustment,  in  all  the  new 
difficulties  and  problems  that  have  arisen,  the  insti- 
tution at  whose  latest  graduation  we  are  now  as- 
sisting, has  maintaned  its  standing  and  its  prestige 
as  a  great  academy  of  Jewish  learning  and  as  the 
source  whence  'issues  the  stream  of  inspiration  for 
our  American  communities.  Hence  go  forth  the 
leaders  who  bring  the  message  of  a  living  faith  to  the 
contemporary  generation,  young  men  who,  having 
learned  here  the  continuing  story  of  the  development 
of  the  Jewish  spirit  in  all  the  centuries  agone,  find 
their  life  work  in  applying  the  touchstone  of  Judaism's 
eternal  truths  to  present  needs  and  conditions  and  in 
interpreting  those  truths  in  terms  of  modern  life  as 
messengers  of  the  living  God  who  is  revealing  him- 
self constantly  to-day,  as  he  has  in  all  the  ages  past. 
My  purpose  to-day  is  to  emphasize  this  feature  of 
the  work  that  stretches  before  you,  my  dear  young 
friends  and  colleagues  soon  to  be.  You  are  about 
to  be  enrolled  in  the  great  company  of  Jewish  teachers 
who,  during  an  interval  of  years  numbered  by  thous- 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  249 

ands  and  in  all  lands  under  the  sun,  have  labored  in  the 
service  of  God  and  their  fellow-men.  Though  living 
in  this  twentieth  century  in  a  land  unknown  even  by 
name  to  the  earliest  leaders  of  our  faith  in  its  first 
home,  you  still  are  spirit  of  their  spirit  and  are  to  be 
the  spiritual  guides  to  the  communities  in  which  you 
shall  live  and  work,  even  as  they  were  in  their  time 
and  place.  The  opening  paragraph  of  the  Pirke 
Abot  which  speaks  of  the  chain  of  Jewish  tradition 
extending  from  Moses  down  to  the  teachers  of  that 
day  is  capable  of  ever-changing  application.  Each 
and  every  age,  each  and  every  earnest  and  sincere 
teacher,  furnishes  a  new  link  to  that  chain  of  Jewish 
tradition.  What  was  eternal  and  vital  in  the  message 
of  Moses  and  the  prophets  is  as  significant  to-day  as 
it  ever  was.  And  the  eternal  teachings  of  the  Jewish 
leaders  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  is 
as  directly  in  line  with  that  everlasting  message  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets  as  were  the  high  teachings  of 
the  men  mentioned  in  the  Pirke  Abot.  Geiger  and 
Einhorn  and  Wise  were  as  important  to  and  signi- 
ficant for  their  generation  as  were  Hillel  and  Gamliel 
and  Johanan  ben  Zakkai  for  theirs.  And  as  disciples 
of  Geiger  and  Einhorn  through  the  present  dis- 
tinguished president  of  this  institution,  and  of  Wise 
through  all  the  traditions  of  this  College,  you  are  the 
latest  link  in  this  chain  of  Jewish  tradition  that  is 
traced  back  to  Moses  at  Sinai.  From  this  day  you 
will  be  aiding  in  that  visible  structure  of  the  spirit  at 
which  all  those  who  have  gone  before  you  have  labored . 
Anxious  questions  must  be  presenting  themselves  to 
you  as  to  the  nature  of  the  task  which  lies  before  you. 


250  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


Without  doubt  hopes  and  fears  are  strangely  inter- 
mingled in  your  vision  of  the  days  to  come.  Let  us 
consider  some  of  these,  as  they  appear  on  the  horizon 
of  the  future  that  now  stretches  before  you. 

The  Scriptural  section  from  which  this  afternoon's 
portion  was  read  contains  the  famous  story  of  the 
twelve  men  who  were  sent  by  Moses  to  reconnoiter 
the  land  of  Canaan,  and  to  bring  back  report  of  the 
land  and  its  inhabitants  to  the  people.  Ten  of  the 
men  reported  in  disheartening  terms.  Though  giving 
glowing  accounts  of  the  fertility  of  the  country,  they 
declared  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  people 
to  conquer  the  land  because  they  saw  there  giants  and 
great  fortified  cities.  Two  of  the  company,  however, 
Joshua  and  Caleb,  differed  with  their  colleagues  and 
enheartened  the  people  by  declaring  that  if  they  would, 
they  could  go  up  against  the  land  and  possess  it 
r6  ^3U  ^y  ^  "for  we  can  indeed  prevail  against  it." 

This  graphic  narrative  lends  itself  finely  to  our 
purpose  to-day.  The  land  of  promise  lies  before  you 
now  as  it  has  on  a  similar  occasion  before  all  who 
occupied  the  place  in  which  you  find  yourself  to-day. 
You,  too,  are  men  who  are  being  sent  forth  to  recon- 
noiter that  land  of  promise.  Will  you  be  like  the 
ten,  seeing  only  the  difficulties  and  the  obstacles,  afraid 
to  go  forward,  or  will  you  be  like  the  two  filled  with  a 
glowing  enthusiasm  by  which  you,  though  conscious 
of  the  difficulties  and  the  obstacles,  can  still  rise 
triumphant  over  them  and  exclaim,  "we  will  go 
forth  and  struggle  bravely  and  heroically,  ta11  ^ 
H7  ^DU,  for  we  can  prevail  against  all  the  barriers 
that  will  arise  against  us  in  our  forward  jour- 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  251 

ney."  "All  things  good  are  as  difficult  as  they 
are  rare,"  said  the  great  philosopher,  and  he  spoke 
out  of  a  profound  experience  of  life.  Whatever  is 
worth  while  is  greatly  worth  while.  Are  you  going  to 
do  valiant  service  in  the  cause  to  which  you  have  given 
yourselves,  standing  out  as  did  Joshua  and  Caleb  with 
the  cheering  call  "Onward,"  or  are  you  going  to  be 
men  of  little  spirit,  unfit  for  leadership  in  the  great 
endeavors  which  are  marking  the  earnest  spirits  of  our 
generation?  For  you  it  is  to  answer  this  question 
each  to  himself.  For  me  it  is  to  be  as  helpful  to  you 
as  I  can  by  placing  before  you  some  facts  which  care- 
ful observation  of  the  present  situtation  among  us 
has  disclosed  to  my  view. 

It  were  to  render  you  a  poor  service  indeed  were  I 
to  conceal  from  you  the  difficulties  of  the  situation. 
It  is  just  because  there  are  these  difficulties,  that  you 
and  such  as  you  are  needed.  Were  all  things  as  they 
should  be  in  Jewry,  there  were  no  need  of  rabbis  and 
teachers.  The  promised  land  which  is  always  before 
us  requires  in  its  gradual  conquest  the  overcoming 
of  the  obstacles.  The  ten  men  saw  aright  when 
they  saw  the  gigantic  difficulties,  but  they  saw  only 
half;  the  two  men  recognized  the  difficulties  also,  but 
they  saw  also  the  other  half,  the  possibility  to  over- 
come them.  The  ten  rested  in  despair,  the  two 
pressed  forward  from  despair  to  hope.  They  saw 
the  whole  picture  where  the  others  saw  only  a  frag- 
ment. 

Well,  then,  there  are  the  giants  in  the  land  still 
today,  giants  blocking  the  cause  of  our  onward  re- 
ligious progress  with  which  we  all  must  reckon  and 


252  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

against  which  we  must  be  constantly  active.  Let  me 
designate  a  few  of  them,  not  by  way  of  discouraging, 
but  of  enlightening  you.  If  we  know  our  foes,  we 
are  ready  to  grapple  with  them.  There  is  in  the  first 
place  the  towering  giant  of  spiritual  obtuseness. 
This  looms  very  large  on  the  horizon.  Comparatively 
few  men  and  women  amongst  us  are  spiritually 
minded.  The  great  majority  simply  do  not  care  for 
the  things  in  which  you  and  I  are  most  interested. 
They  scarcely  understand  our  language  when  we 
expatiate  upon  the  things  of  the  spirit  as  little  as  the 
prophet's  generation  understood  him  when  he  de- 
clared that  not  by  might  and  not  by  strength,  but 
by  the  spirit  does  man  prevail.  This  giant  of  spiritual 
obtuseness  will  be  impeding  your  way  all  the  time. 
You  will  rain  blow  upon  blow  upon  him,  and  seemingly 
make  little  if  any  impression.  But  now  and  then' 
you  will  find  a  weak  spot  in  his  armor  and  lay  him 
low.  At  any  rate,  you  are  going  forth  to  enlist  in  this 
age-old  struggle  that  has  been  going  on  in  the  Jewish 
world  from  the  days  that  the  children  of  Israel, 
enamored  of  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  arose  against  the 
great  leader,  Moses.  You,  too,  will  have  your  mo- 
ments of  despair  as  had  even  that  superlative  genius 
and  as  have  had  all  other  leaders,  but  you  may  not 
rest  theie.  The  work  needs  you.  You  are  fighting 
the  fight  of  the  spirit;  you  are  enlisted  in  the  cause  of 
righteousness.  What  if  you  are  only  one  against 
many?  Numbers  do  not  count  in  the  affairs  of  the 
spirit.  You  remember  the  famous  words  attributed 
to  Judah  Maccabee  in  answer  to  the  fainthearted  who 
trembled  at  the  sight  of  the  great  multitude  of  the 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  253 


enemy  "with  the  God  of  Heaven  it  is  all  one  to  deliver 
us  with  a  large  number  or  with  a  small  one.  Let  all 
the  nations  know  that  there  is  One  who  will  forever 
save  and  protect  Israel."  This  is  the  spirit  that  must 
inform  you  for  you  will  frequently  stand  alone  or  in 
a  small  minority  against  the  great  majority  of  the 
spiritually  obtuse.  But  you  are  doing  God's  work. 
You  have  chosen  your  path.  With  the  will  to  do, 
and  the  purpose  to  achieve,  you  will  contribute  to  the 
final  victory  which  shall  come  as  surely  as  some  day 
mankind  will  reach  the  promised  land  to  which  all  the 
prophets  of  the  race  have  pointed,  the  golden  age  of 
justice,  love  and  righteousnness  on  earth. 

Closely  allied  to  this  son  of  Anak  is  his  brother, 
epicurean  materialism.  Obtuseness  of  spirit  and 
crass  materialism  are  the  obverse  and  the  reverse  of 
the  same  shield.  This  giant  has  had  a  long  life.  In 
the  prophet's  day  his  motto  was  "let  us  eat  and  drink 
for  tomorrow  we  die."  Through  all  the  ages  he  has 
rung  the  changes  on  this  motto  and  today  it  is  still 
his  watchword.  He  has  his  followers  by  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  now  as  always.  You  will  be  meeting 
them  at  every  turn,  gross  materialists  who  have  no 
thought  above  the  earth  earthy,  loud  vulgarians 
who  gorge  their  stomachs  while  their  souls  are  starved. 
For  them  life  is  largely  a  quip  and  a  jest.  They  want 
to  be  amused.  The  number  of  such  is  legion.  They 
are  a  great  army.  When  you  encounter  them  con- 
stantly and  continually,  will  you,  terrified  by  the 
great  proportions  of  this  giant,  wax  faint,  or  spurred  to 
greater  efforts  by  the  difficulty  of  overcoming  him, 
will  you  exclaim  also  here,  "we  will  continue  unafraid 


254  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

for  we  can  conquer?"  As  Jewish  teachers  you  may 
never  overlook  the  fact  that  Judaism  has  always 
maintained  a  sane  attitude  in  this  matter.  Asceti- 
cism is  not  a  part  of  its  program.  It  recognizes  that 
man  is  the  child  of  two  worlds,  the  material  and  the 
spiritual.  In  its  true  interpretation  it  maintains 
the  proper  balance  between  the  two.  In  your  con- 
tention with  the  crass  and  vulgar  materialism  of  the 
generation,  you  must  marshal  your  forces  carefully. 
Mere  denunciation  avails  little.  Though  granting 
the  right  and  the  propriety  for  the  human  creature  to 
satisfy  the  craving  for  enjoyment  within  measure, 
you  must  stand  in  season  and  out  of  season  as  the 
protagonists  of  the  idealization  of  life  and  its  spiritual 
possibilities.  The  blight  that  most  threatens  our 
society  is  this  vulgarization  of  its  aims  and  the 
materialization  of  its  views.  The  very  prosperity 
with  which  so  many  have  been  favored  in  this  land 
has  been  responsible  in  great  part  for  this.  In 
pointing  out  this  condition  and  demanding  a  proper 
consideration  for  the  ideals  of  life,  you  will  often  be 
struggling  alone.  You  will  be  swimming  against  the 
current.  But  if  the  men  at  the  helm  of  our  congre- 
gations have  any  mission  it  is  this  of  standing  bravely 
by  the  standard  that  they  have  elected.  The  great 
function  of  the  pulpit  among  us  today  is  to  stand 
four-square  to  the  ideal  interpretations  of  life.  How 
you  will  do  it  depends  altogether  upon  yourselves. 
But  first  of  all  and  most  of  all  you  must  by  your 
preaching  and  by  your  practice  be  a  living  illustration 
of  the  sincerity  of  your  professions.  In  our  calling, 
as  in  every  otheri  it  is  most  easy  to  follow  the  line  of 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  255 


least  resistance.  In  the  last  instance  the  rabbi 
in  his  conduct  and  in  his  person  must  go  in  and  out 
among  the  people  as  the  representative  of  the  high 
and  ideal.  As  such  they  must  and  they  want  to 
look  up  to  him.  The  supreme  rule  of  his  life  must  be, 
not  what  must  I  do  to  be  peisonally  popular,  but 
what  must  I  do  to  help  my  people  to  a  better  com- 
prehension of  the  ideal  implications  of  existence? 
The  cause  first,  last  and  all  the  time.  Thus  and 
thus  only  will  the  materially  disposed  be  impressed. 
This  has  been  the  effective  weapon  in  the  immemorial 
contest  of  the  idealists  with  their  constant  foe,  epi- 
curean materialism.  Thus  armed  you  will  do  effective 
service  in  the  high  cause  to  which  you  give  yourselves 
this  day. 

A  third  of  these  gigantic  foes  that  you  will  be  en- 
countering constantly  is  ignorance  both  within  and 
without  the  ranks.  The  rabbi  is  primarily  a 
teacher;  such  is  the  tradition  from  all  our  past,  such 
must  be  our  aim  and  purpose  now.  If  you  are  to 
conquer  the  land  you  are  about  to  enter,  it  will  be 
largely  through  the  arts  and  the  achievements  of  the 
teacher.  The  ignorance  of  Judaism,  of  its  past,  its 
present  purpose  and  its  interpretation  of  the  future  is 
colossal.  You  will  find  it  in  the  congregations  and 
without  them.  You  will  find  it  among  young  and  old. 
Far  from  being  discouraged  by  this  condition,  it 
should  nerve  you  to  the  greatest  determination  to 
contribute  what  you  can  towards  overcoming  it. 
You  will  also  find  frequently  no  very  great  longing  on 
the  part  of  the  multitude  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunities  you  are  offering  them  to  better  their 


256  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

ignorance.  Even  this  must  spur  you  to  only  greater 
efforts.  As  a  teacher  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  the 
rabbi  has  his  greatest  opportunity.  It  is  because 
people  are  so  largely  ignorant  of  the  Jewish  inter- 
pretations of  the  facts  of  life  that  they  follow  in  so 
many  instances  latter  day  isms  and  doxies  which  are 
at  best  likely  to  be  only  passing  fads.  If  such  are 
deserting  the  synagogue  it  is  largely  through  ignor- 
ance of  what  Judaism  teaches  and  stands  for,  and  if 
they  are  thus  ignorant  may  it  not  be  due  in  part 
to  dereliction  on  the  part  of  the  leaders? 

But  it  is  not  only  here  that  your  opportunity  as 
teachers  will  lie.  You  will  find  possibly  in  the  very 
early  days  of  your  ministry,  if  you  have  your  eyes 
open  to  the  conditions  round  about  us,  an  appalling 
condition  of  affairs  among  the  younger  generation  of 
recent  immigrants  to  our  country.  They  have  no 
sympathy  with  the  religion  as  practiced  by  their 
fathers.  The  free  spirit  of  our  American  environ- 
ment does  not  comport  with  the  traditional  practice 
and  interpretation  of  rabbinical  Judaism.  The 
younger  generation  thus  at  variance  with  their  fathers' 
outlook  upon  Judaism,  know  little  or  nothing  of  our 
reform  Judaism.  What  they  know  of  it  is  largely 
misinformation.  They  have  heard  reform  Judaism 
denounced  and  reformers  misrepresented.  They  are 
simply  ignorant  of  our  aims  and  purposes.  Because 
of  their  ignorance,  or  worse,  the  misunderstanding  of 
what  reform  Judaism  represents  and  stands  for,  they 
will  have  none  of  it.  Here  again  is  opportunity  for 
your  function  as  teachers.  You  will  go  forth  as  gradu- 
ates of  this  academy  of  Jewish  learning  representing 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  257 

what  is  known  as  the  reform  or  liberal  tendency.  As 
such  you  will  stand  before  your  world,  be  it  large  or 
small,  with  a  distinct  program,  the  interpretation  of 
the  everlasting  truths  of  Judaism  in  the  light  of 
modern  thought  and  our  modern  American  conditions. 
For  you  it  will  be  as  it  is  for  all  of  us  who  stand 
in  the  rabbi's  place,  to  aim  to  dispel  the  ignorance  of 
this  generation  which  is  now  growing  up  apart,  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  religion  of  their  fathers  and  to 
acquaint  them  with  the  teachings  and  achievements 
of  reform  Judaism.  What  the  rabbis  cf  the  nineteenth 
century  did  for  the  earlier  immigration  to  this  country, 
who  owing  to  the  teachings  they  received  founded  and 
maintained  our  reform  congregations,  that  must  the 
rabbis  now  do  for  the  youth  of  the  later  immigration 
that  is  growing  up  in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Through 
the  reform  movement  Judaism  adapted  itself  to  the 
modern  environment.  The  reform  movement  is  the 
saving  element  of  Judaism  in  the  modern  age.  Be- 
cause reform  had  a  free  field  to  develop  in  this  land, 
Judaism  is  stronger  here  than  in  any  country  in  the 
world.  If  it  is  to  continue  thus  strong  and  grow 
still  stronger,  the  rabbis  must  exercise  the  teaching 
function,  enlighten  the  rising  generation  and  draw 
them  within  the  lines  of  our  congregations,  the 
representative  organizations  of  Judaism.  I  know  of 
no  finer  service  that  you  can  render  than  this  of 
bringing  the  light  of  knowledge  where  there  is  now 
ignorance  of  what  you  and  we  stand  for. 

And  there  is  the  further  angle  of  this  contest  with 
ignorance  in  the  larger  attitude  towards  the  entire 
non-Jewish  environment.  Here,  too,  you  will  have  a 


258  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

great  work  to  do.  You  will  stand  before  the  general 
community  as  the  Jewish  leader.  Time  and  again 
it  will  fall  to  your  lot  to  meet  with  gross  misunder- 
standing and  misrepresentation  of  our  faith  and  our 
teachings.  Though  you  will  never  seek  polemics, 
you  cannot  keep  quiet  when  occasion  arises  to  defend 
your  own.  In  many  a  community  Jew  and  Judaism 
have  a  high  standing  because  of  the  fine  service  of 
rabbis  as  teachers  and  as  men  unafraid  when  the 
proper  word  must  be  spoken.  Of  such  may  you  be 
in  the  career  that  is  now  opening  for  you. 

Many  other  obstacles  and  difficulties  might  be 
mentioned  but  I  have  indicated  enough  to  make  it 
clear  that  you  will  have  sufficient  to  occupy  you  all 
your  lives  in  your  progress  towards  the  goal  of  your 
aspirations,  your  land  of  promise.  But  though  there 
be  the  obstacles  and  the  difficulties  they  are  as  nothing 
compared  with  the  endowment  you  are  blessed  with. 
What  distinguished  Joshua  and  Caleb  from  their 
fellows  was  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  to  go  forth  and 
grapple  with  the  obstacles.  That  you  surely  have  or 
else  you  would  not  have  persevered  through  all  these 
years  of  your  college  life.  Having  that,  you  go  forth 
armed  most  strongly.  Whatever  be  the  outer  cir- 
cumstances of  your  life,  and  may  they  be  always 
happy,  you  must  conquer  if  this  abides  with  you. 
And  the  best  manner  to  retain  this  enthusiasm  is  to 
feed  it  from  the  perpetual  spring,  and  for  the  rabbi 
that  perpetual  spring  is  the  knowledge  of  books  and 
of  men.  If  your  enthusiasm  begins  to  lag  because 
of  the  discouragements  in  your  world,  retire  to  your 
study  and  to  communion  with  the  great  spirits  of 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  259 


the  past  and  you  will  soon  find  yourself  again  and 
look  upon  life  from  the  point  of  view  of  eternity. 
In  the  serene  company  of  prophet  and  seer  and 
philosopher  and  scholar,  the  petty  annoyances  that 
fret  us  soon  dissolve  into  thin  air  and  we  emerge 
refreshed  and  enheartened,  ready  once  more  for  the 
tasks  that  life  may  bring. 

Because  of  its  importance  I  would  like  to  dwell  for 
a  few  moments  longer  on  this  matter  of  scholarship 
in  the  rabbinical  office. 

The  great  changes  in  the  life  of  the  Jews  during  the 
past  century  have  had  their  effect  also  on  the  rab- 
binical office  and  its  occupants.  Notably  has  this 
been  the  case  in  these  free  lands  of  the  west.  It  is 
a  far  cry  from  the  functioning  of  the  rabbi  of  a  me- 
diaeval Jewish  community  isolated  from  contact 
with  the  outer  world  to  the  multifarious  activities  of 
the  rabbi  of  a  congregation  in  a  modern  American 
city.  In  such  a  mediaeval  community  the  rabbi  could 
devote  himself  in  uninterrupted  quiet  to  the  pursuit 
of  learning;  this  was  the  be  all  and  end  all  of  his  life; 
there  were  few  communal  activities  that  broke  in 
upon  his  learned  leisure.  How  different  the  life  of 
the  rabbi  in  active  service  today.  There  are  a  hun- 
dred and  one  calls  upon  his  time  to  distract  his  atten- 
tion. His  interests  as  the  leader  of  a  congregation, 
and  possibly  also  as  a  leader  in  the  community  at 
large  are  many  and  varied.  Recognizing  though  we 
do  the  great  difference  between  the  work  of  such  a 
modern  rabbi  and  his  predecessor  of  an  age  behind  us, 
I  yet  make  bold  to  claim  that  the  rabbi's  first  concern 
is  learning  and  scholarship.  Unless  this  all  else  is 
vain.  Unless  he  build  upon  this  as  a  foundation  he 


260  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

builds  upon  sand.  Communal  activity  is  of  course 
necessary  in  these  days,  but  unless  the  rabbi  so 
arranges  his  life  that  study  and  the  pursuit  of  scholarly 
aims  holds  first  place,  he  is  untrue  to  the  finest  tradi- 
tions of  his  office.  If  the  rabbi  places  scholarly  aims 
first  as  he  should,  then  it  matters  little  what  he  places 
second  or  third.  By  this  he  will  be  able  to  feed  his 
enthusiasm  constantly  and  to  keep  burning  the 
flame  of  his  optimism. 

And  finally  you  have  the  finest  possession  of  all 
for  your  undertaking.  You  have  youth,  with  its 
generous  impulses  and  its  great  possibilities.  I  hope 
you  are  not  too  sophisticated  and  have  not  the  age 
weariness  that  oppresses  so  many  of  our  young  men  in 
these  days  of  ours.  With  youth  all  things  are  possible . 
It  is  the  spirit  of  youth  that  declares  "I  can  prevail." 
It  is  the  spirit  of  youth  that  keeps  the  man  on  the 
firing  line,  ready  always  to  do  his  part  even  when 
the  hair  begins  to  whiten.  The  hopes  of  the  genera- 
tions as  they  pass  are  centered  in  the  young  men  who 
devote  themselves  to  the  tasks  of  leadership  and 
undertake  the  responsibilities  which  attach  thereto. 
The  unknown  future  is  hiding  from  you  the  course 
that  your  life  shall  take,  but  whatsoever  may  betide , 
whether  you  will  be  called  to  places  that  men  call 
great  or  small,  remember  always  that  "there  is  no 
great  and  no  small  to  the  soul  that  maketh  all." 
In  all  our  communities,  be  they  large,  be  they  little, 
we  need  men,  young  men,  men  of  the  youthful  spirit 
whatever  be  the  count  of  their  years,  we  need  the 
leaders  endowed  with  the  intrepidity  of  the  two  men 
who  in  the  face  of  a  majority  numbering  five  to  one, 
and  in  the  presence  of  seemingly  gigantic  difficutlies, 


WE  CAN  PREVAIL  261 

spoke  the  brave  and  great  word  yachol  nuchal  lah 
"we  can  prevail." 

So  would  I  say  to  you  today,  you  can  prevail. 
Many  have  preceded  you  and  have  prevailed.  You 
may  remember  the  fine  lines  of  the  poet  philospoher: 

So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust 

So  near  is  God  to  man, 
When  Duty  whispers  low,  Thou  must, 

The  youth  replies,  I  can. 

A  great  work  lies  ahead  of  you.  Judaism  needs 
you.  All  upward  striving  needs  you.  The  company 
of  the  ideally  aspiring  throughout  the  world  needs 
you.  God  needs  you  to  do  His  work  in  the  world. 
Go  forth  then,  as  champions  of  the  spirit,  go  forth  as 
messengers  of  the  Most  High,  teachers  of  the  people 
from  whom  they  will  seek  knowledge.  Go  forth  as 
the  latest  hope  of  our  Alma  Mater,  the  nourishing 
mother  of  our  American  Jewish  congregations.  Keep 
burning  the  perpetual  lamp  of  service  in  the  temple 
of  your  lives,  replenishing  it  constantly  from  the 
never  failing  source  of  scholarly  pursuit  and  youthful 
enthusiasm.  So  will  your  lives  be  blessfd  and  you 
will  be  enrolled  in  that  great  company  of  immortal 
spirits  so  eloquently  described  by  the  sage  in  his 
wonderful  account  .of  Israel's  worthies  as  "those 
through  whom  the  Lord  manifested  great  glory,  those 
who  were  leaders  of  the  people  by  their  counsels  and 
by  their  understanding  men  of  learning  for  the  people ; 
wise  and  eloquent  in  their  teachings  and  through 
knowledge  and  might  fit  helpers  of  the  people."  Of 
such  may  you  be  through  God's  help  and  God's 
blessing  during  all  your  lives.  Amen! 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE* 

NEVER  during  the  twoscore  years  and  more 
since  our  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congre- 
gations was  founded  by  the  great  leader,  Isaac  M. 
Wise,  and  the  devoted  co-workers  who  assisted 
him  in  giving  form  and  substance  to  what  had  been 
the  dream  of  his  waking  and  sleeping  hours  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  has  this  organization  met  in  so 
troubled,  so  critical,  so  portentous  a  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  the  history  of  Jewry,  as 
this.  Though  we,  in  this  blessed  land,  are  far  away 
from  the  frightful  scenes  of  unspeakable  carnage  in 
the  devastated  countries  of  the  Old  World,  still  we 
can  not  get  away  from  the  influence  of  the  world 
woe,  nor  would  we.  AH  our  thinking  is  affected  in 
some  way  or  other  by  the  crisis  through  which  the 
nations  are  now  passing.  Victor  Hugo  once  wrote 
that  Waterloo  changed  the  front  of  the  universe. 
In  a  much  comprehensive  sense  this  will  prove  true 
of  the  present  Titanic  struggle.  Things  will  never 
be  again  quite  as  they  were  before  the  summer  of 
1914.  Values  will  be  altered.  The  men  and  the 
women  in  the  warring  lands  will  have  an  altogether 
different  outlook  upon  the  temporalities  and  the 
eternities.  The  old  order  is  passing  for  many  of  the 
embattled  peoples.  A  new  order  shall  dawn.  The 
night  is  still  black,  very  black,  but  out  of  the  black- 


*Convention   Sermon   at   meeting   of   Union   of   American 
Hebrew  Congregations,  January  15,  1917,  at  Baltimore,  Md. 


263 


264     CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

ness  light  shall  emerge.  They  who  are  now  suffering 
and  agonizing,  they  who  are  walking  in  darkness 
shall  see  a  great  light,  the  light  of  advancing  progress, 
the  light  of  liberating  freedom. 

Of  no  element  of  the  populations  of  European  lands 
will  this  prove  more  true  than  of  our  co-religionists 
Because  of  the  disabilities  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  and 
Roumania.  because  of  the  indescribable  suffering, 
miseiy  and  woe,  greater  far  than  that  of  others,  which 
they  are  experiencing  in  the  Eastern  war  zone, 
notably  in  Poland,  there  are  particular  problems  for 
us,  as  Jews,  in  addition  to  the  general  human  problems 
that  concern  us  in  common  with  all  our  fellowmen . 

AMERICA  THE  CENTER  OF  JEWISH  LIFE 

The  center  of  gravity  of  Jewish  life  has  shifted 
to  America.  We  are  witnessing  a  new  phase  of  our 
centuried  history  in  the  making.  As  once  Palestine 
was  the  seat  of  supremacy  in  Jewry,  and  then  Babylon , 
and  then  Spain,  and  then  Poland,  so  now  it  is  coming 
to  be  the  United  States.  In  all  truth,  nyi& 
JOiyon,  the  new  revelation  of  God's  working  in 
Jewry  is  here  in  this  Western  sphere.  Never  has 
the  command  of  God  spoken  more  surely,  or  more 
impressively,  than  it  is  sounding  in  these  days  in 
ears  not  deaf  in  spiritual  messages.  And  that  word 
is  being  addressed  particularly  to  us  of  the  house 
of  Israel  in  this  land  of  promise  of  these  latter  days. 
If  ever  the  burden  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  was 
upon  a  people  it  is  now  upon  us.  Woe  unto  us  if  we 
have  not  vision!  Woe  unto  us  if  in  these  new  days  of 
revelation  we  are  not  ready  to  say,  in  the  words  spoken 
by  our  fathers  as  they  faced  the  mount  of  revelation 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          265 


in  that  ancient  time  —  yDtMinpJH!  "We  will  do 
and  we  will  hear!"  Woe  unto  us,  if  we  are  un- 
mindful of  the  mighty  responsibility  which  our  ex- 
ceptional position  as  citizens  of  this  free  land  places 
upon  our  shoulders!  Unto  us  our  harried  brethren, 
subjected  to  countless  woes  and  nameless  ills,  are 
looking  for  succor  and  for  counsel.  In  the  plan  of 
Providence  the  blessing  and  prosperity  which  are 
ours  here  in  America  are  to  become  the  instruments 
of  salvation  for  our  brethren.  This  is  the  latest 
chapter  in  the  marvelous  story  which  began  in  dim 
antiquity,  when,  in  response  to  the  driving  call, 
-pnxo  "p  "p,  Abraham  left  his  birthplace  and  his 
father's  house  to  live  for  the  truth  which  had  come 
unto  him  and  to  become  a  blessing  unto  many 
nations. 

THE  FIRST  Loss  OF  PALESTINE 

Since  then  how  frequently  that  command  has 
sounded  unto  the  descendants  of  Abraham  at  critical 
periods  in  their  history!  Again  and  again  that  same 
bidding  became  imperative  and,  whether  they  would 
or  not,  it  had  to  be  obeyed.  It  was,  in  all  truth,  the 
command  of  God,  though  at  the  time  it  scarcely 
seemed  so.  Thus  was  it  in  the  days  of  the  first 
great  catastrophe,  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Babylonian  king  and  the  leading  of  the  people  into 
captivity.  Then  was  the  people  bidden  to  get  them 
out  of  their  birthplace,  out  of  their  father's  house.  But 
was  the  land  to  which  they  were  transported  aught 
but  the  land  of  trouble?  Was  it  possible  that  God's 
blessing  rested  there,  that  God's  work  could  be  per- 


266  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


formed  there,  so  that  this  departure  from  their  land 
could  work  out  for  good?  Indeed,  it  seemed  not 
possible  that  this  could  prove  to  be  the  case.  All 
seemed  lost,  the  future  absolutely  hopeless.  Exiled 
into  a  strange  land,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  people 
cried  out:  "Our  bones  are  dried  up,  our  hope  is 
lost,  we  are  clean  cut  off." 

And  yet  the  years  of  that  Babylonian  sojourn  were 
fraught  with  tremendous  consequences  for  Judaism. 
It  was  then  that  it  became  clear  that  the  spirit  of 
Judaism  could  flourish  even  away  from  Palestine, 
that  the  truth  was  not  dependent  upon  any  soil, 
however  dear  or  sacred.  Then  it  was  that  the 
synagog,  as  the  house  of  prayer,  came  into  being, 
and  the  conviction  was  brought  home  to  the  people 
that,  although  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  de- 
stroyed, God  could  still  be  approached  in  these 
houses  of  prayer  in  this  strange  land.  Then  it  was 
that  the  universal  ideas  in  Judaism  were  strengthened 
and  fostered — the  universal  ideas  that  culminated  in 
the  remarkable  speeches  of  that  soaring  genius,  the 
prophet  of  the  close  of  that  period  of  the  Babylonian 
exile,  the  man  whose  name  we  do  not  even  know,  but 
whose  glorious  messages  of  consolation,  forming  the 
latter  portion  of  our  present  Biblical  Book  of  Isaiah, 
are  among  the  world's  supreme  religious  masterpieces. 
For  this  mighty  spirit  God  was  God  not  only  of 
Israel  but  of  all  nations.  Israel,  it  is  true,  is  God's 
chosen;  but  chosen  for  what?  For  service.  In 
these  speeches  it  is  that  we  find  the  famous  conception 
of  Israel  as  the  mrr  13V,  the  servant  of  the  Lord. 
Through  the  suffering  in  the  exile  Israel  advanced 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE  267 

in  the  scale  of  spiritual  power  and  might.  This 
universal  idea  of  the  true  inwardness  of  Israel's  work 
in  the  world,  wherever  it  might  be,  to  serve  in  the 
cause  of  God's  truth,  is  presented  time  and  again 
in  the  pages  of  this  Babylonian  Jew.  Through  all  the 
dark  days  of  which  Israel's  history  is  so  full  his  words 
have  brought  hope  and  peace  to  unnumbered  genera- 
tions. The  words  of  his  message  of  consolation  were 
an  ever-present  enheartenment  in  the  wretchedness 
and  misery  that  were  Israel's  portion — "Comfort 
ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God," 
Israel  as  the  Messiah  of  the  nations,  Israel  as  a 
Priest  people,  destined  to  serve  humanity  through 
suffering  and  travail:  this  is  the  mighty  contribution 
to  our  religious  treasure  trove  by  this  our  prophet. 
The  Christian  church,  of  course,  interpreted,  and 
interprets  all  these  noted  "servant  of  the  Lord" 
passages  in  the  light  of  prophecies,  foretelling  the 
career  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  But  this  is  a  forced 
interpretation;  as  has  been  well  said,  the  burden  of 
the  thought  of  our  prophet  is  that  not  one  Jew,  but 
the  Jew,  not  one  individual,  but  the  Jewish  people, 
is  the  suffering  and,  finally,  the  achieving  servant  of 
the  Lord.  Significant,  too,  of  the  universality  of  the 
outlook  of  this  high  visioned  spirit  is  his  hailing  a 
heathen  king  as  the  Lord's  anointed;  thus  does  he 
designate  Cyrus,  king  of  Perisa,  the  conqueror  of 
Babylon,  the  mighty  monarch  of  those  days.  What 
though  this  king  was  not  of  the  house  of  Israel,  he 
was  yet  the  instrument  of  God,  the  King  of  all  kings, 
the  Lord  of  all  nations.  Part  and  parcel  is  this 
thought  of  the  universalism  of  the  prophet's  teaching, 


268  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


the  fine  product  of  Israel's  sojourn  in  a  land  not  its 
own. 

The  going  forth  of  the  people  from  their  father's 
house,  from  land  and  birthplace  into  exile,  had  thus 
resulted  in  a  mighty  advance  of  spiritual  potency. 
The  palpable  proof  was  here  given  that  God  could  be 
worshiped  everywhere,  that  God  revealed  himself 
everywhere,  that  Israel  could  serve  God  even  beyond 
the  confines  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
boundaries  of  Palestine.  What  an  intimation  of  a 
greater  future  was  this,  what  a  forecast  of  that  which 
was  still  to  be! 

THE  FINAL  Loss  OF  PALESTINE 

Centuries  later,  in  an  even  greater  crisis,  that 
call,  "Get  thee  out  of  thy  land,"  came  again  to  the 
people  of  Israel.  Six  hundred  years  and  more  had 
elapsed  since  the  first  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
when  the  second  catastrophe  of  the  same  nature 
befell.  During  those  six  centuries  it  is  true,  the 
people  had  been  widely  scattered  throughout  the 
then  civilized  world,  in  Asiatic  countries,  in  African 
lands,  in  European  provinces,  as  far  west  as  Spain. 
But  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  the  center  of 
Jewish  life;  thither  all  eyes  were  directed  at  times 
of  prayer  as  towards  the  holiest  spot  where  God 
dwelt  especially.  The  priesthood  that  served  in 
that  Temple  served  for  all  Israel,  the  sacrifices 
offered  in  that  Temple  were  for  all  Israel.  Israel,  far 
flung  over  the  earth,  sent  its  contributions  for  the 
upkeep  of  Temple,  priesthood  and  sacrificial  system. 

When  the  dire  blow  fell,  and  the  sacred  edifice  be- 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          269 

came  a  prey  to  the  devouring  flames,  when  the  Romans 
finally  conquered  the  Holy  City  and  took  the  Jewish 
people  captive,  it  seemed  to  many  that  the  end  of  all 
things  had  come. 

Was  it  the  voice  of  God  which  now  again  sounded 
the  command  to  leave  land  and  birthplace  and  father's 
house  to  go  out  into  a  larger  world  to  become  a  bless- 
ing? Again,  as  more  than  six  centuries  before,  this 
seemed  not  possible.  Few  were  they  who  could 
see  God's  larger  purposes  unfolding  in  this  terrible 
crisis.  But  here  and  there  great  teachers  saw  the 
silver  lining  in  the  black  cloud.  The  leading  rabbi 
of  the  time,  a  mighty  spirit,  Rabbi  Jochanan  ben 
Zakkai,  comforted  his  weeping  pupils  and  colleagues 
as  they  bewailed  the  loss  of  Temple,  and  altar,  and 
sacrifice  with  the  well-known  words  that  one  altar  in 
Israel  was  not  destroyed — the  performance  of  good 
deeds;  and  he  bade  them  go  forth  into  their  various 
spheres  of  activity  and  serve.  Again  the  great  idea 
of  service.  The  words  of  the  rabbi  to  his  pupils  were 
applicable  to  the  large  life  of  the  whole  people. 

THE  UNIVERSALISM  OF  ISRAEL'S  MISSION 

Israel  was  to  begin  its  career  of  service  and  travail 
as  the  servant  of  the  Lord  in  all  the  world.  Even 
to  a  greater  degree  than  in  Babylon,  after  the  first  de- 
struction, was  the  idea  of  universalism  to  be  stressed . 
The  service  of  the  hereditary,  priesthood  at  the  altar 
had  come  to  a  close.  Of  course,  the  hope  was  con- 
stant that  this  service  had  been  only  suspended  and 
would  be  re-established  when,  some  day,  the  Temple 
would  be  rebuilt  and  the  sacrifices  again  brought. 


270  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

But,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  priesthood  idea 
was  transferred  to  the  whole  people.  The  rabbi,  the 
teacher,  who  might  issue  from  any  home  or  family 
in  Israel— truly  representative  of  the  democratic 
idea  of  the  service  of  the  whole  people — took,  as  the 
religious  leader,  the  place  of  the  priest,  the  representa- 
tive of  a  hereditary  religious  aristocracy.  Thus  only  in 
another  way,  because  of  changed  circumstances,  was 
the  great  thought  of  Isaiah  of  Babylon,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  was  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  being 
worked  out.  It  is  also  reported  that  a  great  spirit 
of  those  days  declared  that  on  the  day  that  the  Tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  the  Messiah  was 
born. 

.     ISRAEL  IN  THE  WORLD 

In  other  words,  when  Temple  and  land  and  birth- 
place were  lost,  the  Messianic  mission  of  Israel  among 
the  peoples  of  the  world  commenced.  As  Abraham's 
greater  work  began  when  he  left  his  land  and  birth- 
place, as  the  larger  significance  of  Israel's  work 
become  emphasized  by  the  sojourn  in  Babylon  upon 
leaving  land  and  birthplace  after  the  first  destruction, 
so  was  it  accentuated  even  more  strongly  after  the 
passing  of  this  greatest  crisis  in  its  life.  Dark  was  the 
outlook;  it  did,  indeed,  seem  to  that  generation  that 
the  glory  had  departed  altogether  from  Israel.  And 
yet,  as  we  now  see  after  the  event,  this  was  but  a 
further  step  in  the  progress  of  Israel's  Messianic 
service.  The  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  lost  but 
shrines  unto  the  living  God  of  Israel  arose  every- 
where in  the  civilized  world  during  the  succeeding 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          271 

centuries,  since  Israel  penetrated  everywhere.  The 
priesthood  of  a  single  family  gave  way  to  the  idea 
of  the  priesthood  of  a  whole  people  in  reality,  if 
not  in  name.  True  there  was  little  conscious  recogni- 
tion of  these  revolutionary  tendencies  until  a  much 
later  day,  but  they  were  being  worked  out  none 
the  less  in  actual  life  and  experience.  God  was 
being  worshipped  everywhere  in  reality  by  Israel, 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  only  a  memory;  the 
rabbis  springing  from  any  family  were  the  interpreters 
of  the  religion,  the  priesthood's  service  was  only  a 
memory.  So  unconsciously,  perhaps,  but  none  the 
less  surely,  the  conceptions  of  the  universalism  of 
God's  presence  everywhere,  and  the  universalism 
of  Israel's  service  everywhere,  became  deeply  imbed- 
ded as  century  after  century  passed,  and  Israel 
assumed  the  character  of  an  international,  a  universal 
religious  community. 

All  this  was  preparing  for  the  coming  of  a  day 
when  there  would  be  proclaimed  again  the  mighty 
preachments  of  the  prophet  of  the  captivity  and  the 
universal  interpretation  of  Israel's  work  in  the  wcrld 
would  be  held  forth,  of  Israel's  Messianic  service  as 
a  priest  people,  dispersed  and  scattered  everywhere, 
not  as  a  curse  for  the  sins  of  the  fathers,  but  to  realize 
the  purposes  of  God  in  sending  the  people  forth 
from  land  and  home  and  birthplace,  that,  through  it, 
the  families  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  This  was 
little  apparent  in  the  medieval  European  lands, 
where  Israel  dwelt  in  ghettos  and  wore  the  badges  of 
shameful  discrimination,  when  whole  communities 
were  mobbed  and  plundered,  tortured  and  exiled. 


272  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

In  Zangwill's  expressive  phrase,  the  lands  of  Europe 
were  step-fatherlands  to  the  Jew.  The  ghetto  be- 
came Israel's  birthplace  and  home.  What  wonder 
that,  under  such  circumstances,  the  universalistic 
phase  of  this  people's  purpose  was  little  recognized! 

THE  NEW  ERA. 

But  this  darkness  was  only  the  precursor  of  a 
brilliant  dawn.  God's  spirit  was  working  mightily 
in  the  world  and,  when  the  measure  of  the  days  was 
full,  the  new  day  broke  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Then  again  sounded  the  command  to 
Israel:  "Get  thee  out  of  thy  land  and  birthplace 
and  home,"  out  of  the  abodes  of  oppression  in  all 
lands,  out  of  the  ghettos  that  have  been  thy  birth- 
place and  thy  home,  get  thee  out  of  these  into  the 
abodes  which  I  shall  show  thee,  the  abodes  of  freedom 
and  opportunity,  in  America  and  other  lands  of  free- 
dom where  the  new  light  is  beginning  to  shine.  Again 
was  there  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  Israel  more  signi- 
ficant than  any  that  had  gone  before.  In  those 
new  abodes  of  freedom  the  universal  ideas  and  ideals 
which  had  lain  dormant  in  the  evil  days  of  oppression 
were  to  take  on  new  and  larger  life.  Isaiah  of 
Babylon  and  all  similar  spirits  were  to  live  again,  for 
the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the  great  captivity  had 
come,  the  captivity  of  ghetto  and  disability.  That 
prophet  was  again  speaking,  and  the  people  were 
heeding:  "Remember  ye  not  the  former  things, 
neither  consider  the  days  of  old;  behold  I  do  a  new 
thing:  now  shall  it  spring  forth,  shall  ye  not  know  it?" 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          273 

ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE 

Indeed,  a  new  thing  was  occurring,  a  revolutionary 
turn  was  being  taken  in  the  life  of  the  age-old  inter- 
national people  of  Israel ;  and  the  particular  new  thing 
was  that  this  internationalism  was  to  be  demonstrated 
and  emphasized  as  never  before.  Israel  among 
the  nations  in  medieval  days,  until  the  dawn  of  the 
new  era  of  freedom,  had  been  unrecognized  as  having 
any  rights.  '  Israel  among  the  nations  in  the  newer 
day  was  to  stand  forth  as  a  component  element  of 
the  nations,  into  whose  fellowship  the  individual 
members  of  the  house  of  Israel  were  to  be  received  in 
the  full  dignity  of  citizenship.  Jews  in  religion — 
Americans,  Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Germans,  as 
the  case  might  be,  in  nationality — became  the  motto 
describing  the  status  of  the  international  people  of 
Israel  among  the  nations  of  the  world.  This  was  the 
new  birth  of  the  new  time  for  the  children  of  Israel. 
It  was  a  new  reading  of  the  idea  and  ideal  of  univer- 
salism. 

True,  Philo  of  Alexandria  had  written,  eighteen 
hundred  years  previously,  concerning  his  co-religion- 
ists: "The  Jews  consider  the  Holy  City  as  the  metro- 
polis because  the  Temple  of  the  highest  God  is  there, 
but  they  look  upon  the  land  where  their  fathers 
lived  as  their  fatherland,  having  been  born  and 
reared  there."  However,  these  words  of  the  great 
Jewish  neo-Platonic  philosopher  became  a  dead 
letter  during  the  centuries  of  Christian  persecution  of 
the  Jews  owing  to  their  servile  position  in  the  states 
of  Europe.  The  Jews  were  the  international  religious 


274  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

people  in  potentiality  only,  not  in  actuality.  They 
were  international  in  fact,  for  they  lived  among  all 
the  nations;  but  they  had  no  participation  in  the 
national  life.  It  was  an  anomalous  condition. 
Beneath  the  surface  it  bore  the  promise  and  potency 
of  great  things,  but  few,  if  any,  who  lived  in  those 
terrible  days  of  repression  and  disability  could  have 
recognized  the  possibilities  that  a  brighter  and  better 
day  would  develop  into  undreamed-of  actualities. 
The  material  for  the  real  universal  internationalism 
was  all  there.  It  required  only  the  spark  of  the 
divine  fir^  of  freedom  to  set  that  material  aflame  and 
cause  it  to  burst  forth  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  world  into 
a  great  new  thing,  comparable  with,  aye,  superior  to, 
the  glorious  event  that  the  ancient  prophet  had  de- 
signated by  this  name.  Once  again  Israel  was  heed- 
ing the  divine  call  to  get  itself  forth  into  the  world 
and  to  live  a  new  life  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 
Once  again  the  Lord  was  doing  wondrous  things 
even  as  in  the  days  of  old.  The  bonds  of  the  op- 
pressor were  broken,  the  days  of  the  exile  had  come  to 
a  close,  the  Messiah,  the  spirit  of  a  new  age,  was 
coming;  and  Israel,  now  no  longer  a  passive  sufferer 
in  the  ghettos  of  the  old  world  of  bondage  and  ill- 
usage,  but  an  active  participant  in  the  glorous  life 
of  the  new  world  of  light  and  freedom,  went  forth 
to  serve  everywhere  in  the  ranks  of  justice  and  right, 
of  brotherhood  and  humanity,  the  messenger  of  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  universal  fatherhood  of  God  unto 
those  who  could  really  appreciate  the  significance  of 
the  marvelous  events  that  the  new  time  had  brought 
to  pass. 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          275 

UNIVERSALISM  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

It  is  not  necessary  to  rehearse  the  special  phenomena 
that  exemplified  the  ushering  in  of  the  new  life  of  the 
Jews  and  emphasized  their  status  as  the  international 
people  among  the  nations  of  all  of  which  separate 
members  of  this  people  formed  a  part.  State  after 
state  in  Western  Europe,  to  say  nothing  of  our  own 
blessed  land,  granted  them  the  full  rights  of  citizen- 
ship with  the  passing  of  the  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Within  Israel  itself  arose  the  Reform 
movement,  which  interpreted  the  new  life  in  the  terms 
of  the  universalism  of  the  ancient  prophets,  notably 
Isaiah  of  Babylon.  In  burning  word  and  eloquent 
preachment  modern  prophets  in  Israel,  Wise  and 
Einhorn,  Geiger  and  Holdheim,  Lilienthal  and 
Samuel  Hirsch,  dwelt  upon  the  mission  of  this  people 
as  ny  DDK  witnesses  of  God  everywhere,  as  the  priest 
people  that  was  set  free  in  these  latter  days  to 
serve  God  everywhere,  as  the  international  religious 
community  which  was  to  furnish  the  palpable  proof 
that  stronger  and  loftier  than  all  artificial  nationalisms 
that  are  of  man's  devising  are  the  universal  bonds  that 
are  of  God's  making.  Israel  was  thus,  in  all  truth 
a  symbol  of  what  seemed  to  be  the  great  overpowering 
fact  in  mankind's  life  in  that  nineteenth  century. 
Great  scientific  discoveries,  remarkable  inventions  that 
brought  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  earth  into  close 
touch  with  one  another,  treaties  of  peace  and  arbitra- 
tion among  the  nations — all  seemed  to  give  point  to 
the  growing  dominance  of  the  idea  of  universalism 
whereof  Israel's  status  as  an  international  religious 


276  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


community  was  the  outstanding  symbol  for  us  who 
move  particularly  within  this  circle  of  life  and  thought. 
It  appeared  as  though  this  was  the  dawn  of  that 
brilliant  day  prophesied  of  old  when  the  nations  were 
to  flock  together  to  the  house  of  the  universal  God, 
when  swords  were  to  be  beaten  into  ploughshares  and 
spears  into  pruning  hooks  and  nations  were  not  to 
learn  war  any  more. 

THE  REACTION. 

But  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe.  Signs  of  evil  began 
appearing  on  the  horizon.  Dark  spots  began  showing 
on  the  sun  of  universalism.  Israel,  as  so  often  before, 
was  the  barometer  that  showed  that  all  was  not  yet 
fair  weather.  Anti-Semitism  in  Germany,  the  terrible 
pogroms  in  Russia,  the  unspeakable  persecutions  in 
Roumania,  gave  evidence  that  the  universalism,  which 
Israel's  place  in  the  world  as  the  international  people 
signified,  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to  exorcise  the 
obsession  of  narrow  nationalism  that  breeds  hatreds 
and  prejudices  as  universalism  begets  amities  and 
friendships.  For  thirty  years  the  apostles  of  such 
nationalism  spewed  forth  their  poisonous  doctrines. 
The  infection  grew  by  what  it  fed  on;  class 
hatreds,  national  hatreds,  racial  hatreds — all  these 
were  stirred  up  until,  finally,  the  frightful  conflagra- 
tion that  is  consuming  the  Old  World  burst  forth 
in  its  terrible  intensity.  Many  see  in  this  the  ruin 
of  all  the  hopes  built  upon  the  prophetic  visions  of 
universalism  and  brotherhood.  A  note  of  weariness 
and  hopelessness  sounds  forth  in  all  the  lands.  Within 
our  narrower  sphere  the  wheel  seems  to  have  come 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE         277 

around  full  circle.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
have  thrown  up  their  hands  in  despair.  We  pro- 
tagonists of  universalism  are  being  laughed  to  scorn. 
Our  claim  that  Israel  is  an  international  religious 
community  is  being  held  up  to  ridicule. 

THE  NEW  NATIONALIZATION. 

We  are  told  that  Israel  can  only  survive  by  stressing 
its  separatistic  nationalism,  that  only  by  drawing 
ourselves  off  from  our  fellow-inhabitants  as  a  separate 
nationalistic  group  in  the  lands  in  which  we  live  can 
we  perpetuate  Jewish  life.  The  religion  of  Israel 
is  said  by  these  latter-day  prophets  of  nationalism 
to  be  only  an  incident,  and  that,  too,  a  small  incident, 
say  ten  per  cent,  of  the  general  Jewish  experience, 
which  they  term  Hebraism.  In  a  word,  because  of 
the  madness  which  has  come  upon  the  world,  because 
of  anti-Semitism  and  nationalistic  obsessions  and 
hatreds,  and  Russian  and  Roumanian  anti-Jewish 
excesses,  we  are  bidden  reverse  our  entire  viewpoint 
of  the  international  universalism  of  Israel's  place 
among  the  nations  and  to  accept  as  the  final  explana- 
tion of  Israel's  marvelous  travail  of  the  ages  the  ex- 
cision of  the  religious  internationalism  as  the  supreme 
factor  in  the  life  of  this  people,  and  substitute  for 
it,  as  its  reason  for  being,  an  excluding  and  exclusive 
nationalsim  that  would  make  Israel  merely  like  any 
other  small  people,  like  Montenegro,  or  Albania,  or 
Afghanistan,  or  Santo  Domingo,  and  not  goy  echad 
baaretz,  a  people  unique,  a  people  unexampled  in  its 
history  and  its  preservation,  in  its  message  and  its 
mission.  But  that  we  will  not  do. 


278  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  UNION 

We  here  being  a  convention  of  a  Union  of  Congre- 
gations base  upon  the  religious  significance  of  Israel's 
life.  Let  Jewish  nationalists  aver  that  the  religious 
element  is  only  an  incident  of  Jewish  experience,  say 
ten  per  cent.,  we  internationalists,  founding  our 
claim  on  what  has  been  Israel's  task  in  the  world 
from  the  day  that  it  was  bidden  to  be  a  kingdom  of 
priests  and  a  holy  people,  fashioning  our  interpre- 
tation along  the  line  of  Israel's  geniuses  among  its 
prophets,  thinkers,  sages,  rabbis  and  martyrs,  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  whose  life  and  thought 
was  God  and  God  alone,  taking  our  stand  on  the 
religious  idealistic  interpretation  of  history,  whereof 
we  believe  Israel  presents  the  most  striking  symbol, 
as  over  against  the  materialistic  interpretation, 
whereof  the  present  war,  the  apotheosis  of  nationalism 
is  the  climax,  we  intei  nationalists  I  say,  despite  all 
the  frightfully  distressing  days  through  which  we 
are  passing,  must  hold  our  rudder  true,  feeling  that, 
as  so  often  before,  the  darkness  which  is  enveloping 
the  world  will  be  dissipated  and  the  mists  disappear 
before  a  re-arising  sun. 


Dark  was  the  prospect  when  the  first  Temple  was 
destroyed  and  Israel  led  captive  to  Babylon,  but 
from  out  of  that  darkness  came  forth  the  brilliant 
light  of  the  truth  that  God  could  be  worshipped  in 
Babylon,  as  well  as  Palestine,  and  eventually  the 
great  teachings  of  the  universalistic  prophet  who 


ISRAEL,  THE  INTERNATIONAL  PEOPLE          279 

hailed  the  coming  of  the  day  when  God  would  be 
acknowledged  one  everywhere  and  His  name  one. 
Darker  still  was  the  outlook  for  Israel  when  Palestine 
was  finally  lost,  and  Temple  and  priesthood  went  the 
way  of  all  things  earthly;  for  eighteen  centuries  that 
darkness,  more  or  less  thick,  brooded  over  Israel 
in  all  the  earth,  with  only  occasional  gleams  of 
brightness  here  and  there,  now  in  Babylon,  now  in 
Spain,  but  during  that  long  period  of  darkness  the 
plans  of  God,  in  whose  sight  a  thousand  years  are 
only  as  the  yesterday  which  is  past,  were  unfolding 
and,  in  what  we  call  the  opening  of  the  modern  era, 
the  glorious  light  again  broke  forth,  and  Israel  went 
forth  the  bearer  of  the  universalism  of  God's  truth 
among  all  the  nations,  at  home  everywhere  in  God's 
earth  where  freedom,  the  new  Messiah,  had  prepared 
the  way  and  taken  the  stumbling  blocks  out  of  the 
path  of  the  people.  And  today,  when  over  many 
nations  has  settled  a  darkness  thicker  possibly  than 
ever  before,  when  over  Israel  as  part  and  parcel  of 
the  nations  the  darkness  is  hanging,  denser  possibly 
in  some  ways  than  over  any  others,  we  will  lift  our 
eyes  with  faith  and  hope  that  help  cometh  from  the 
Lord.  The  same  God  who  bade  Abraham  go  forth 
and  be  a  blessing,  the  same  God  who  revealed  Himself 
through  Israel  as  the  universal  God  and  Father  of 
mankind,  the  same  God  who  dispersed  our  fathers 
throughout  the  world  to  be  a  blessing  untc  the 
nations  and  has  preserved  us  to  this  day  as  a  people 
not  like  other  peoples  of  the  earth,  but  distinct, 
peculiar  in  that  His  word  is  the  lamp  to  oui  feet  and 
the  light  to  our  path,  that  same  God  in  the  same  voice 


280  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

of  bidding  that  has  sounded  so  constantly  unto 
Israel  throughout  the  ages  urges  us  of  this  latest  day 
and  generation  to  get  ourselves  out  of  our  narrow 
confines  of  doubt  and  despair,  out  into  the  wide 
regions  of  faith  that  all  will  be  well;  that  voice  bids 
us  as  universal  messengers  of  a  universal  God  to 
sound  the  universal  note  of  Israel's  true  place  among 
the  nations  D'U  "IIN!>  DJJ  JVQ^  as  God's  covenant  people, 
missioned  by  Him  to  be  the  light  of  the  nations.  Amen! 


THE  DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  THE  JEWS  TO  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

(April,  1918.) 

WE  are  so  habituated  to  the  thought  of  full  equality 
in  this  blessed  land  that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to 
imagine  that  there  was  a  time  when  this  was  not  the 
case.  And  yet  so  it  was.  Before  the  American 
Revolution  had  been  brought  to  a  successful  issue 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  been 
ratified  by  the  various  colonies,  each  one  of  the  thirteen 
original  states  was  governed  by  its  own  constitution. 
Various  articles  in  these  constitutions  indicated  clearly 
that  liberty  in  the  large  and  full  sense  as  we  know  it 
today  was  not  yet  achieved.  Although  Jews  lived  in 
the  various  colonies  at  ease  and  were  permitted  to 
worship  without  molestation,  still  certain  disabilities 
rested  upon  them  and  upon  all  others  who  were  not 
confessing  orthodox  Christians.  In  truth,  in  some 
instances,  like  disabilities  rested  upon  all  Christians 
who  were  not  Protestants,  namely  communicants  of 
the  Catholic  church.  This  appears  clearly  from 
paragraphs  in  the  constitution  of  the  various  colonies. 
Thus  the  constitution  of  Delaware  of  1776,  (Art.  22) 
ordains  that  the  following  declaration  be  made  on 
taking  office: 

"I  do  profess  faith  in  God  the  Father,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ  his  only  son,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  one  God, 
blessed  for  evermore,  and  I  do  acknowledge  the  holy 

281 


282  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  given 
by  divine  inspiration;"1 

and  the  constitution  of  New  Jersey  of  1776  (Art.  19) 
declared  that, 

"No  Protestant  inhabitant  of  this  colony  shall  be 
denied  the  enjoyment  of  any  civil  right  merely  on 
account  of  his  religious  principles,  but  that  all  persons 
professing  a  belief  in  the  faith  of  any  Protestant  sect 
.  shall  be  capable  of  being  elected  into  any 
office  of  profit  and  trust "2 

Naturally,  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  ratified  by  the  states,  every .  religious 
disability  fell  away  from  the  citizens  of  the  country 
as  far  as  the  Federal  Government  was  concerned,  for 
the  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution  declared 
that  "Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  the 
establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the  free 
exercise  thereof."  Thus  at  a  stroke  full  religious 
liberty  was  accorded  every  citizen  of  the  new  republic 
no  matter  what  his  creed  or  opinion.  To  my  mind 
this  is  the  greatest  achievement  of  the  founders  of 
this  government.  This  was  a  new  thing  in  the  world. 
True,  toleration  had  been  spoken  of  by  advanced 
European  writers  and  thinkers  during  that  last  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  but  such  a  possibility  as 
full  and  equal  rights  for  all  men  irrespective  of  any- 
thing else  but  the  fact  that  they  were  men  had  been 
achieved  nowhere.  Every  European  state  had  an 

1  Philipson.     "Judaism  and  the  Modern  State"  in  Judaism 
at  the  World's  Parliament  of  Religious  265  (Cincinnati  1894.) 

2  Ibid  266. 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES     283 

established  church,  in  England  it  was  the  Episcopal 
Church,  in  some  German  states  the  Lutheran,  in 
others  the  Catholic,  in  France,  Italy,  Austria  and 
Spain  the  Roman  Catholic,  in  Russia  tha  Greek  Catho- 
lic and  so  on.  Ail  other  denominations  were  merely 
tolerated. 

It  remained  for  this  new  experiment  in  government 
on  these  western  shores  to  break  with  all  precedent 
and  to  proceed  on  a  new  and  untried  path.  Here 
there  was  to  be  no  established  church  favored  above 
other  churches,  no  union  of  church  and  state,  no 
dominant  religion  -whose  followers  were  to  have  a 
monopoly  of  the  offices  of  the  state  to  the  exclusion 
of  others.  Religion  which  in  European  lands  had 
been  the  most  fruitful  cause  of  persecution,  bigotry 
and  oppression  because  it  was  an  affair  of  the  state, 
was  in  this  land  declared  to  be  altogether  a  matter 
of  the  private  conscience  of  the  individual  with  which 
Congress  was  not  to  interfere  and  in  the  free  exercise 
of  which  no  individual  was  to  be  hampered.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  religious  liberty  is  the  brightest 
jewel  in  the  diadem  that  decks  Columbia's  brow. 
From  the  year  1789  when  the  Constitution  was  form- 
ally and  definitely  adopted  there  has  been  no  back- 
ward step  in  this  regard  taken  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  although  time  and  again  religious 
bigots  have  attempted  to  bring  about  in  some  one 
or  other  regard  a  union  of  church  and  state.  This 
right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  which 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Jew  in  this  country  is  an  eternal 
debt  which  he  owes  to  this  great  land.  From  a  home- 
less alien  which  he  had  been  in  all  the  countries  of 


284  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Europe  he  was  transformed  in  this  country  to  a  free 
citizen  on  an  equality  with  all  men  of  all  other  faiths. 
He  had  been  the  most  conspicuous  example  of  re- 
ligious disability.  He  had  been  storm  center  of 
religious  animosity  in  the  Christian  states  for  fifteen 
centuries.  He  had  been  driven  from  pillar  to  post, 
here,  there  and  everywhere.  At  last  the  hour  of 
freedom  had  struck  for  him.  America  became  his 
land  of  heart's  desire,  his  haven  of  hope,  his  true 
home,  his  fatherland.  This  is  what  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  did  for  that  wanderer  cf  the  ages 
when  they  penned  the  sublime  words  "Congress  shall 
make  no  law  respecting  the  establishment  of  religion 
or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

In  the  course  of  time  those  of  the  original  thirteen 
states  which  had  discriminatory  provisions  in  their 
constitutions  amended  them  so  as  to  make  them  at 
one  with  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  Federal 
Constitution.  As  long  as  such  provisions  continued 
to  exist  naturally  Jews  and  in  some  cases  Catholics 
and  in  all  cases  free  thinkers  could  not  hold  state 
offices  in  such  commonwealths.  Despite  the  intent 
and  purpose  of  the  founders  of  the  republic  several 
states  were  very  backward  in  removing  from  their 
statutes  the  last  vestige  of  mediaeval  Christian 
bigotry.  In  Maryland,  the  fight  over  the  so-called 
Jew  Bill  was  waged  for  eight  years  and  it  was  not 
till  1826  that  this  bill  was  passed.  The  state  Con- 
stitution which  had  been  adopted  in  1778  contained 
the  provision  that: 

"No  other  test  or  qualification  ought  to  be  required, 
on  admission  to  any  office  of  trust  or  profit,  than  such 
oath  of  support  and  fidelity  to  this  state  and  such  oath 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES  285 

of  office  as  shall  be  directed  by  this  convention  or 
the  legislature  of  this  state  and  a  declaration  of 
belief  in  the  Christian  religion."3 

In  consequence  of  the  enactment  of  the  Jew  Bill 
into  law  this  provision  was  amended  >n  the  new  con- 
stitution adopted  in  1851  by  the  addition  of  the  clause: 

"And  if  the  party  shall  profess  to  be  a  Jew,  the 
declaration  shall  be  of  his  belief  in  a  future  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments." 

The  last  sign  of  anti-Jewish  discrimination  in  the 
statutes  of  the  original  thirteen  states  existed  in  the 
state  of  North  Carolina  whose  constitution  adopted 
in  1776  had  declared  that 

"No  person  who  shall  deny  the  being  of  God  or 
the  truth  of  the  Protestant  religion  or  the  divine 
authority  either  of  the  Old  or  New  Testaments  .  .  . 
shall  be  capable  of  holding  any  office  or  place  of 
trust  or  profit  in  the  civil  department  within  this 
state."4 

This  did  not  finally  disappear  till  1868  when  the 
constitution  provided  the  following  oath  of  office: 

"I,  — • ,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm) 

that  I  will  support  and  maintain  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  North  Carolina  not  inconsistent  therewith, 
and  that  I  will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  my 
office,  so  help  me  God;"  and  section  five  of  the  same 
article  declares  that  only  such  shall  be  disqualified 
for  office  who  "shall  deny  the  existence  of  Almighty 
God."8 


3  Ibid  264. 

4  Ibid  265. 

5  Ibid  267. 


286  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  states  admitted  into 
the  Union  after  the  establishment  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States  could  not  write  into  their  state 
constitutions  any  provision  at  variance  with  the 
federal  constitution.  Such  states,  as  consitutent 
parts  of  a  government  which  is  founded  on  the  rock 
of  religious  liberty  had  perforce  to  be  guided  by  the 
same  principles.  The  thirty-five  state  common- 
wealths incorporated  from  time  to  time  in  the  great 
union  of  states,  welcome  all  alike,  of  whatever  creed, 
race  or  condition,  so  long  as  they  demean  themselves 
as  good  citizens.  The  melting  pot  of  America  has 
absorbed  millions  and  in  the  process  of  absorption 
these  millions  have  sloughed  old  world  traditions  and 
emerged  citizens  of  a  new  world,  glorified  by  the  light 
of  freedom.  This  is  America's  marvellous  achieve- 
ment, the  new  birth  of  a  new  soil.  Incalculable  is 
the  debt  of  these  millions  to  free  America,  and  upon 
none  is  the  debt  more  binding  than  upon  the  Jews  of 
America  whether  now  it  be  those  of  us  whose  fathers 
came  hither  decades  ago  to  escape  the  disabilities 
which  rested  upon  them  in  small  German  kingdoms 
and  principalities  or  whether  it  be  the  immigrants  of 
recent  years  who  fled  hither  to  escape  the  hellish 
treatment  meted  out  to  them  in  Russia  and  Roumania. 
That  this  debt  is  cheerfully  acknowledged  by  the  vast 
majority  appears  abundantly  but  that  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  now  some  upon  whom  the  debt  sits 
lightly  is  only  too  sadly  true  as  shall  appear  in  the 
sequel. 

But  it  is  not  only  within  the  confines  of  this  land 
itself  that  the  great  debt  of  the  Jew  to  America  has 
lain.  Time  and  again  this  government  as  the  spokes- 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES     287 

man  of  humanity  and  liberty  has  raised  its  voice  in 
no  uncertain  tones  in  behalf  of  persecuted  Jews  in 
other  lands.  Although  before  the  great  war  in 
which  we  are  now  engaged  the  United  States  held  to 
its  traditional  policy  of  non-interference  in  the 
affairs  of  European  states,  still  when  in  numbers  of 
instances  flagrant  injustice  was  done  to  Jews,  its 
highest  officials  brought  the  moral  influence  of  this 
humane  people  to  bear  in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  and 
oppressed.  I  can  attempt  to  note  here  only  a  few 
of  the  more  celebrated  cases.  The  first  instance  on 
record  is  in  connection  with  the  notorious  Damascus 
case  in  1840.  A  monk  by  the  name,  of  Friar  Thomas 
had  disappeared.  The  Franciscan  order  to  which  he 
belonged  raised  the  cry  that  the  Jews  had  murdered 
him  to  use  his  blood  at  the  Passover  feast.  The 
French  consul  at  the  instance  of  this  order  brought 
the  charge  of  ritual  murder  against  the  Jews.  This 
became  a  cause  celebre.  Jews  were  arrested  and 
subjected  to  all  sorts  of  indignities  and  tortures. 
Although  no  American  citizen  was  involved  our 
Secretary  of  State,  John  Forsyth  addressed  a  com- 
munication to  John  Gliddon,  United  States  Consul 
at  Alexandria,  Egypt  to  use  his  good  offices  as  far  as 
he  could,  in  behalf  of  these  hapless  victims  of  religious 
hatred  and  bigotry.  The  dispatch  breathes  the  finest 
spirit  of  humanity.  It  is  the  first  of  its  kind  on 
record.  It  is  so  exalted  in  tone  and  so  expressive  of 
what  we  love  to  think  our  country,  as  the  exponent 
of  idealism,  represents  among  the  nations,  that  it 
may  well  be  quoted  in  full. 

"In  common  with  all  civilized  nations,  the  people 
of  the  United  States  have  learned  with  horror,  the 


288  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


atrocious  crimes  imputed  to  the  Jews  of  Damascus, 
and  the  cruelties  of  which  they  have  been  the 
victims.  The  President  fully  participates  in.  the 
public  feeling,  and  he  cannot  refrain  from  expressing 
equal  surprise  and  pain,  that  in  this  advanced  age, 
such  unnatural  practices  should  be  ascribed  to  any 
portion  of  the  religious  world,  and  such  barbarous 
measures  be  resorted  to,  in  order  to  compel  the  con- 
fession of  imputed  guilt;  the  offenses  with  which 
these  unfortunate  people  are  charged,  resemble  too 
much  those,  in  less  enlightened  times,  which  were 
made  the  pretexts  of  fanatical  persecution  or  mer- 
cenary extortion,  to  permit  a  doubt  that  they  are 
equally  unfounded. 

"The  President  has  witnessed  with  the  most 
lively  satisfaction,  the  effort  of  several  of  the  Christian 
Governments  of  Europe,  to  suppress  or  mitigate  these 
horrors,  and  he  has  learned  with  no  common  grati- 
fication, of  their  partial  success.  He  is  moreover 
anxious  that  the  active  sympathy  and  generous  in- 
terposition of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
should  not  be  withheld  from  so  benevolent  an  object, 
and  he  has  accordingly  directed  me  to  instruct  you  to 
employ,  should  the  occasion  arise,  all  those  good  offices 
and  efforts  which  are  compatible  with  discretion  and 
your  official  character,  to  the  end  that  justice  and 
humanity  may  be  extended  to  these  persecuted 
people,  whose  cry  of  distress  has  reached  our  shores."6 

When  we  recall  that  there  was  no  provocation  for 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Van  Buren, 

6  Cyrus  Adler,  "Jews  in  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the 
United  States"  Publications  of  the  American  Jewish  Historical 
Society  No.  15,  pages  4  and  5. 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES     289 

to  take  any  step  in  this  matter  as  involving  rights  of 
American  citizens,  but  that  he  was  actuated  only  by 
feelings  of  sympathy  with  the  victims  of  unspeakable 
injustice  and  cruelty,  we  can  not  but  be  thrilled  even 
at  this  late  date,  well  nigh  eighty  years  thereafter, 
by  this  lofty  evidence  of  the  American  spirit  of  human- 
ity and  generosity  of  sentiment. 

Roumania  and  Russia  have  been  names  of  evil 
omen  for  Jews  during  very  many  years.  The  situ- 
ation of  the  Jews  in  Roumania  was  intolerable  when 
Benjamin  F.  Peixotto,  one  of  the  noblest  of  our  co- 
religionists, was  appointed  U.  S.  Consul  to  that  country 
by  President  Grant.  Before  Peixotto  started  on  his 
journey  the  President  addressed  him  in  this  high 
strain  worthy  of  all  that  is  finest  in  the  American 
outlook: 

"Respect  for  human  rights  is  the  first  duty  of 
those  set  as  rulers  over  nations,  and  the  humbler, 
poorer,  more  abject  and  more  miserable  a  people  be, 
be  they  black  or  white,  Jew  or  Christian,  the  greater 
should  be  the  concern  of  those  in  authority,  to  extend 
protection,  to  rescue  and  redeem  them  and  raise 
them  up  to  equality  with  the  most  enlightened. 
The  story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Hebrews  of  Rou- 
mania profoundly  touches  every  sensibility  of  our 
nature.  It  is  one  long  series  of  outrage  and  wrong; 
and  even  if  there  be  exaggeration  in  the  accounts  which 
have  reached  us,  enough  is  evident  to  prove  the  im- 
perative duty  of  all  civilized  nations  extending  their 
moral  aid  in  behalf  of  a  people  so  unhappy.  I  trust 
Prince  Charles  and  his  ministers  and  the  public  men 
of  that  country  may  be  brought  to  see  that  the 
future  of  their  nation  lies  in  a  direction  totally  oppo- 


290  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

site  to  those  Draconic  laws  and  persecutions,  whether 
great  or  petty,  which  have  hitherto  so  invidiously 
marked  its  character.  It  is  not  by  Chinese  walls  or 
Spanish  expatriations  that  nations,  great  or  small, 
can  hope  to  make  progress  in  our  day.  I  have  no 
doubt  your  presence  and  influence,  together  with  the 
efforts  of  your  colleagues  of  the  guaranteeing  Powers 
with  whom  in  this  matter  you  will  always  be  prompt 
to  act,  will  result  in  mitigating  the  evils  complained 
of,  and  end  in  terminating  them.  The  United  States 
knowing  no  distinction  between  her  own  citizens  on 
account  of  religion  or  nativity,  naturally  believes  in  a 
civilization  the  world  over,  which  will  secure  the  same 
universal  views."7 

The  treatment  of  the  Jews  in  Roumania  was  and 
is  still  a  scandal.  It  was  the  subject  of  debate 
during  the  negotiations  which  accompanied  the  sign- 
ing of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  in  1878  after  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war.  The  representatives  of  the  Powers 
there  assembled  agreed  to  recognize  the  independence 
of  Roumania.  One  of  the  conditions  of  such  recog- 
nition was  to  be  the  full  emancipation  of  the  Jews  of  that 
land  and  the  bestowal  of  all  rights  upon  them.  The 
United  States  as  a  matter  of  course  took  no  part  in 
the  deliberations  for  the  questions  involved  were 
European.  But  John  A.  Kasson  who  was  U.  S. 
Minister  to  Austria  at  that  time  took  it  upon  himself 
to  address  a  note  to  our  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Evarts. 
In  this  note  he  used  this  noble  language,  permeated 
with  the  true  American  spirit.  He  wrote: 

7  Kohler  and  Wolf.  "Jewish  Disabilities  in  the  Balkan 
States"  Publications  of  the  American  Jewish  Historical  Society 
No.  24,  p.  12  and  13. 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES    291 

"It  would  be  to  the  honor  of  the  United  States 
Government  if  it  could  initiate  a  plan  by  which  at 
once  the  condition  of  American  Hebrews  resident  or 
traveling  in  Roumania,  and  the  condition  of  natives 
of  the  same  race,  could  be  ameliorated  and  their 
equality  before  the  law  at  least  partially  assured. 

The  European  Congress  is  about  to  assemble,  and 
will  be  asked  to  recognize  the  independence  of  Rou- 
mania. Would  there  be  any  just  objection  to  the 
United  States  Government  offering  on  its  part,  if  the 
European  powers  would  on  their  part,  make  the  same 
condition,  to  recognize  the  independence  of  that 
country,  and  to  enter  into  treaty  stipulations  with 
its  government,  only  upon  the  fundamental  preli- 
minary agreements: 

1.  That    all    citizens    or    subjects    of    any    such 
foreign    nationality    shall,    irrespective    of    race    or 
religious  belief,  be  entitled  to  equal  rights  and  pro- 
tection under  the  treaty  and  under  their  laws. 

2.  That  all  subjects  or  citizens  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Roumanian  Government  shall,  irrespective 
of  their  race  or  religious  belief,  have  equal  rights  of 
trade  and  commerce  with  the  citizens  or  subjects  of 
the  foreign  governments  making  such  treaty;  equal 
rights  in  the  purchase,  consumption,  barter,  or  sale 
of  the  products  of  such  foreign  country,  and  in  sales 
of  Roumanian  products  to  such  aliens;  equal  rights 
to  make  contracts  with  the  citizens  or  subjects  of 
such  foreign  government,  and  to  be  equally  protected 
by  the  laws  in  the  exercise  of  the  rights  so  secured? 

To  this  extent,  at  least,  it  seems  foreign  govern- 
ments would  be  justified  by  international  law  and  the 


292  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

law  of  self-interest;  while  they  would  at  the  same 
time  give  effect  to  the  humane  instinct  of  all  truly 
civilized  and  Christian  nations.  The  persecuting 
and  oppressive  spirit  is  so  strong  in  Roumania  against 
the  Jews  that  it  requires  united  action  by  liberal  and 
constitutional  governments,  as  well  as  an  appeal  to 
the  strongest  desires  of  the  Roumanian  people,  which 
are  just  now  to  be  permitted  to  enter  the  family  of 
nations,  to  bring  relief  and  emancipation  to  this 
proscribed  race. 

Your  own  judgment  will  improve,  doubtless,  the 
form  of  action  above  suggested ;  but  it  will  be  sufficient 
I  hope,  to  attract  your  attention  to  a  Question,  the 
favorable  solution  of  which  would  greatly  gratify 
the  American  people,  and  evoke  especial  gratitude 
from  that  race  which  has  found  in  the  United  States 
absolute  legal  equality  and  security,  and  the  occasion 
of  the  congress  is  most  favorable  for  giving  it  effect, 
if  approved."8 

The  State  Department  answered  this  letter  in  the 
same  spirit  which  prompted  the  writer  and  assured 
Mr.  Kasson  ''that  the  subject  is  one  eminently 
fitting  of  consideration  which  it  will  receive."  Bayard 
Taylor,  the  eminent  author,  was  U.  S.  Minister  to 
Berlin  at  the  time ;  after  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  had 
been  signed,  he  reported  to  the  State  Department 
concerning  this  treaty  as  follows: 

"The  chief  interest  which  the  Government  and 
people  of  the  United  States  have  in  the  treaty  is  its 
enforcement  of  religious  liberty  in  Roumania,  Bul- 
garia and  Eastern  Roumelia.  This  ;s  the  only  point 
8  Ibid  pages  41  and  42. 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES    293 

• 

which  I  felt  at  liberty  to  present  unofficially  to  several 
members  of  the  Congress,  and  I  am  glad  to  report 
that  it  was  opposed  by  none  of  the  statesmen  present."9 

The  notorious  disregard  by  Roumania  of  this  pro- 
vision by  which  her  independence  was  conditioned 
made  the  portion  of  the  Jews  in  Roumania  intolerable. 
They  were  constantly  subjected  to  persecution  and 
oppression.  Many  sought  these  shores.  This  condi- 
tion brought  the  matter  within  the  scope  of  American 
statesmanship  for  there  was  then  a  direct  connection 
between  the  Roumanian  persecution  of  the  Jews  and 
their  coming  to  the  United  States.  Basing  upon  this, 
John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State  under  the  first  Roosevelt 
administration,  penned  his  famous  Roumanian  note, 
one  of  the  loftiest  state  papers  in  American  history. 
Mr.  Hay,  moved  by  a  noble  but  contained  indigna- 
tion, expressed  the  American  position  as  follows: 

"The  teachings  of  history  and  the  experience  of 
our  own  nation  show  that  the  Jews  possess  in  a  high 
degree  the  mental  and  moral  qualifications  of  con- 
scientious citizenhood.  No  class  of  immigrants  is 
more  welcome  to  our  shores  when  coming  equipped 
in  mind  and  body  for  entrance  upon  the  struggle  for 
bread  and  inspired  with  the  high  purpose  to  give  the 
best  service  of  heart  and  brain  tc  the  land  they  adopt 
of  their  own  free  will;  but  when  they  come  as  outcasts, 
made  doubly  paupers  by  physical  and  moral  oppres- 
sion in  their  native  land  and  thrown  upon  the  long- 
suffering  generosity  of  a  more  favored  community, 
their  migration  lacks  the  essential  conditions  which 
make  alien  immigration  either  acceptable  or  bene- 
9  Ibid  42. 


294  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

ficial.  So  well  is  this  appreciated  on  the  Continent 
that  even  in  the  countries  where  anti-Semitism  has 
no  foothold  it  is  difficult  for  these  fleeing  Jews  to 
obtain  any  lodgment.  America  is  their  only  goal. 

"The  United  States  offers  asylum  to  the  oppressed 
of  all  lands,  but  its  sympathy  with  them  in  no  wise 
impairs  its  just  liberty  and  right  to  weigh  the  acts  of 
the  oppressor  in  the  light  of  their  effects  upon  this 
country  and  to  judge  accordingly. 

"Putting  together  the  facts  now  plainly  brought 
home  to  this  Government  during  the  past  few  years, 
that  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Roumania  are  being 
forced  by  artificially  adverse  discrimination  to  quit 
their  native  country,  that  the  hospitable  asylum 
offered  by  this  country  is  almost  the  only  refuge 
left  to  them,  that  they  come  hither  unfitted  by  the 
conditions  of  their  exile  to  take  part  in  the  new 
life  of  this  land  under  circumstances  either  profitable 
to  themselves  or  beneficial  to  the  community,  and 
that  they  are  objects  of  charity  from  the  outset 
and  for  a  long  time,  the  right  of  remonstrance  against 
the  acts  of  the  Roumanian  Government  is  clearly 
established  in  favor  of  this  Government.  Whether 
consciously  and  of  purpose  or  not,  these  helpless 
people,  burdened  and  spurned  by  their  native  land, 
are  forced  by  the  sovereign  power  of  Roumania  upon 
the  charity  of  the.  United  States.  This  Government 
cannot  be  a  tacit  party  to  such  an  international 
\vrong.  It  is  constrained  to  protest  against  the  treat- 
ment to  which  the  Jews  of  Roumania  are  subject, 
not  alone  because  it  has  unimpeachable  ground  to 
remonstrate  against  the  resultant  injury  to  itself, 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES     295 


but  in  the  name  of  humanity.  The  United  States 
may  not  authoritatively  appeal  to  the  stipulations 
of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  to  which  it  \vas  not  and 
cannot  become  a  signatory,  but  it  does  earnestly 
appeal  to  the  principles  consigned  therein  because 
they  are  the  principles  of  international  law  and 
eternal  justice,  advocating  the  broad  toleration 
which  that  solemn  compact  enjoins  and  standing 
ready  to  lend  its  moral  support  to  the  fulfillment 
thereof  by  its  cosignatories,  for  the  act  of  Roumania 
itself  has  effectively  joined  the  United  States  to  them 
as  an  interested  party  in  this  regard."10 

This  intercession  by  Secretary  Hay  adds  another 
item  to  the  debt  owed  by  Jews  to  America. 

The  frightful  experience  of  the  Jews  in  Russia 
beginning  with  the  pogroms  of  1881  and  continuing 
up  to  the  very  outbreak  of  the  Russian  Revolution 
in  1917  is  too  new  a  story  to  require  recapitulation 
here.  Time  and  again  America  made  her  voice 
heard.  It  is  not  necessary  to  quote  words  and  senti- 
ments. These  were  in  a  line  with  those  I  have 
already  adduced  in  the  instances  I  have  brought 
to  your  notice.  The  crowning  fact  however  lay  in 
the  refusal  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  at 
the  instance  of  President  Taft  to  renew  the  com- 
mercial treaty  with  Russia  unless  the  provisions  of 
the  treaty  of  1832  guaranteeing  the  rights  of  American 
citizens  travelling  in  Russia  be  observed  by  that 
government.  The  passport  question  had  become 
very  acute.  Russia  had  refused  time  and  again  to 
honor  the  American  passport  held  by  Jews.  By  a 
10Ihid,  pages  133  and  134. 


296  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

practically  unanimous  vote,  there  being  but  one 
vote  in  the  negative,  Congress  by  refusing  to  renew 
the  treaty  set  the  seal  once  again  upon  the  American 
doctrine  of  the  complete  equality  of  all  its  citizens 
and  expressed  the  resentment  of  the  American  govern- 
ment at  the  presumption  of  another  government  to 
discriminate  against  American  citizens  because  of 
their  faith.  This  action  of  Congress  was  in  a  line 
with  the  spirit  of  the  American  fathers  who  estab- 
lished this  government  upon  the  basis  of  full  civil 
and  religious  liberty. 

I  have  passed  in  review  some  of  the  more  striking 
incidents  in  the  diplomatic  history  of  the  United 
States  by  which  the  rights  of  the  Jews  as  men  were 
championed.  In  most  of  the  instances  the  action 
was  purely  voluntary,  prompted  by  the  highest 
sentiments  .of  pure  humanity  and  justice.  The 
Jews  the  world  over  owe  an  everlasting  debt  of 
gratitude  to  those  fine  spirits  who  penned  such  golden 
words  in  behalf  of  their  persecuted  co-religionists. 
And  we  Jews  in  the  United  States,  native  and  natural- 
ized, having  here  our  blessed  home  land  would  be 
monsters  of  unappreciation  and  ingratitude  did  we  not 
recognize  to  the  full  the  tremendous  service  which 
our  country  has  rendered  in  the  cause  of  freedcm 
as  illustrated  particularly  by  the  change  in  the  Jews' 
status.  For  the  most  part  the  debt  is  recognized 
fully  and  gratefully.  And  the  debt  implies  a  duty. 

What  that  duty  is  lies  almost  upon  the  surface. 
In  a  phrase  the  duty  may  be  defined  as  wholehearted 
appreciation  of  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  freedom 
as  achieved  in  this  land  and  wholehearted  loyalty 
to  this  government  at  any  and  all  times.  That 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES      297 

in  the  vast  majority  of  instances  the  American 
Jews  are  thus  appreciative  and  loyal  has  been  proved 
time  and  again.  In  every  crisis  they  have  done 
their  full  share  towards  safeguarding  the  institutions 
of  this  their  homeland.  In  every  war  that  the 
country  has  engaged  in  they  have  fought  side  by- 
side  with  their  fellow  citizens  of  all  faiths.  During 
the  Civil  War  when  the  very  existence  of  the  Union 
was  at  stake  they  rallied  to  the  colors  in  full  loyalty ; 
in  truth  it  has  been  abundantly  shown  that  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  country  at  the 
time  there  were  more  of  them  in  the  army  than  of 
any  other  religious  denomination.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  to  exalt  the  patriotism  of  the  Jew,  for  in 
being  patriotic  and  loyal  he  is  simply  discharging  his 
plain  duty  as  a  citizen  and  paying  the  debt  which  he 
particularly  owes  for  the  liberty  which  is  his  here. 
And  in  the  great  crisis  through  which  the  country 
is  now  passing  the  American  Jews  like  all  other 
true  Americans  are  rising  to  the  occasion.  In  every 
patriotic  service  that  the  citizens  of  the  country 
have  been  called  upon  to  fulfill  they  have  been  found 
working  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  all  their  fellow 
citizens.  Our  young  men  are  serving  in  large  num- 
bers in  the  camps  and  cantonments  through  the  coun- 
try and  a  full  proportion  is  across  the  seas  some- 
where in  France.  The  Liberty  Loan,  the  Red  Cross, 
the  War  Savings  and  other  campaigns  have  found 
the  men  and  women  of  the  Jewish  faith  among  the 
most  willing  and  efficient  workers.  Whatever  branch 
of  the  government  service  has  called  them  they 
have  answered  with  ready  response.  It  is  all  a 
matter  of  plain  duty. 


298 


If  however,  during  the  months  that  have  elapsed 
since  we  have  cast  the  die  and  have  enrolled  our- 
selves in  the  ranks  of  the  fighters  for  the  world's 
freedom  and  democracy,  it  has  happened  here  and  there 
that  misguided  individuals  who  chance  to  be  Jews 
have  given  voice  to  disloyal  sentiments  and  it  must 
be  regretfully  admitted  that  there  have  been  such, 
let  it  be  said  and  known  that  such  individuals  are 
acting  merely  as  individuals;  their  disloyal  words 
and  acts  are  repudiated  by  the  great  mass  of  their 
co-religionists.  For  this  great  mass  the  United 
States  is  the  land  of  their  love  and  their  affection. 
We  who  have  been  born  here  know  no  other  home 
and  those  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who 
coming  from  lands  of  oppression  have  found  here 
a  haven  of  refuge  and  a  home  are  surely  no  less 
loyal  than  the  native  born,  unless  all  sense  of  ap- 
preciation be  dead  and  I  am  sure  it  is  not  dead. 
America,  blessed  America  has  received  from  them 
and  will  receive  from  them  ungrudgingly  loyal 
support  in  return  for  all  that  she  has  given  them, 
the  opportunity  to  live  a  life  of  freedom  and  to 
develop  their  powers  without  let  or  hindrance. 
In  our  devotion  to  these  United  States,  our  home, 
we  aie  at  one  with  all  our  fellow  citizens,  we  forget 
all  differences  of  creed,  race,  color  or  previous  con- 
dition, when  our  country  calls.  America  now  stands 
forth  as  the  hope  of  the  world  in  this  supreme  struggle 
of  the  forces  of  freedom  and  democracy  against 
the  hosts  of  militarism  and  autocracy.  The  struggle 
will  demand  untold  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  all  of  us. 
Can  we  whose  fathers  came  to  these  Pactolian  shores 
to  escape  the  disabilities  that  rested  upon  them  in  the 


DEBT  AND  DUTY  OF  JEWS  TO  UNITED  STATES     299 

lands  of  their  birth  hesititate  for  one  moment  to 
do  all  we  can  to  uphold  the  hands  of  our  great  Presi- 
dent and  all  others  in  authority  in  the  stupendous 
tasks  they  are  directing?  No,  we  can  not  hesitate 
and  we  will  not.  The  duty  is  clear  as  the  debt 
is  unquestioned.  It  is  a  wondrous  privilege  to 
help  in  such  a  cause.  America  has  engaged  in 
many  a  great  enterprise  but  in  none  that  sheds 
such  lustre  upon  her  name.  Without  thought  of 
gain  or  advantage,  without  idea  of  exploitation 
or  profit  she  has  thrown  herself  with  all  her  vast 
resources  into  this  struggle  not  only  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  democracy  but  to  make  democracy 
safe  for  the  world.  Not  as  tolerated  clients  but 
as  full  and  equal  sharers  in  the  duties  as  well  as 
the  privileges,  we  American  Jews  shall  give  and 
freely  give  of  all  we  have  and  hold  to  meet  every 
demand  which  the  country  makes  upon  its  devoted 
children.  We,  the  spiritual  descendents  of  the 
prophets  of  Israel  should  in  a  fuller  measure  than 
any  others  have  ears  attuned  to  the  high  measure 
of  justice  and  opportunity  for  all  which  this  our 
land  is  now  championing.  The  great  spokesman 
of  that  message,  our  leader  and  our  president  was 
moved  by  the  spirit  of  those  ancient  prophets  when 
he  closed  that  great  state  paper,  his  recent  message 
to  Congress  with  the  high  and  impressive  words, 
"A  supreme  moment  of  history  has  come.  The 
eyes  of  the  people  have  been  opened  and  they  see. 
The  hand  of  God  is  laid  upon  the  nations.  He  will 
show  them  favor,  I  truly  believe  only  if  they  rise 
to  the  clear  heights  of  his  own  justice  and  mercy." 


AMERICA'S    ENTRANCE     INTO    THE    WAR* 

WE  are  assembled  tonight  as  American  citizens 
in  this  striking  demonstration  of  loyalty 
to  American  ideals  and  devotion  to  American 
principles.  The  great  throngs  have  hurried  hither, 
impelled  by  one  thought  and  one  motive,  that  of 
lofty  patriotism.  From  the  heights  and  from  the 
valley,  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  the  north 
and  the  south  of  our  beloved  city,  have  the  thousands 
streamed  to  this  historic  hall,  the  scene  of  so  many 
inspiring  gatherings,  but  none  more  inspiring  than 
this,  which  finds  us  as  one  in  this  time  of  crisis. 

In  the  high  union  of  this  hour,  all  differences 
of  creed,  race  and  color  are  brushed  aside;  here  we 
are  Americans,  merging  the  differences  that  so 
frequently  divide  us  in  the  resemblances  that  unite 
us.  Yes,  whatever  be  our  separate  beliefs,  and 
whatever  be  the  churches  we  attend,  we  remember 
only  one  thing  now,  and  that  is  that  we  are  all  one 
as  the  children  of  God — all  one  as  citizens  of  this 
great  republic — our  country  and  our  home. 

To  my  mind,  one  of  the  greatest  achievements 
of  the  founders  of  the  Republic,  if  not  the  greatest, 
was  the  adoption  of  that  article  of  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  which  assures  religious  liberty 
and  freedom  of  conscience  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land.  That  article  reads:  'Congress  shall 
make  no  law  respecting  the  establishment  of  religion 
or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof.'  This  was 
a  new  departure  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It 

*Address  delivered  at  patriotic  mass  meeting,  Music  Hall, 
Cincinnati,  April  5,  1917.          301  v 


302  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

was  thus  solemnly  covenanted  at  the  very  foundation 
of  our  government  that  there  was  to  be  complete 
separation  of  church  and  state,  no  state  church,  no 
established  religion;  here  in  this  free  land  Christian 
and  Jew,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  were  to  be  privi- 
leged to  worship  as  they  would,  without  let  or  hind- 
rance. 

This  was  nobly  interpreted  by  Washington  when 
he  wrote  those  golden  words  'Happily  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  which  give  to  bigotry 
no  sanction,  to  persecution  no  assistance,  requires 
only  that  they  who  live  under  its  protection  should 
demean  themselves  as  good  citizens  in  giving  it  all 
all  times  their  effectual  support.'  Religion  which 
should  be  the  greatest  binding  force  among  men,  as 
its  name  implies,  has  been  on  the  contrary  so 
requently  in  the  history  of  the  world  the  cause 
of  dissension  and  division,  of  bigotry  and  fanatic- 
ism, of  persecution  and  oppression.  The  policy 
of  this  free  government  has  made  these  dreadful 
things  impossible  and  in  the  place  thereof  we 
find  such  a  scene  as  this  when  in  the  high  unity  of 
American  citizenship  and  American  liberty,  we 
religious  leaders  of  all  sorts  and  conditions,  be  we 
now  priest  or  pastor,  or  rabbi,  join  with  our  fellow 
citizens  of  our  own  and  all  other  denominations 
to  register  our  fealty  to  our  government  and  its 
constituted  authorities.  When  it  is  a  matter  of 
fundamentals,  it  would  appear  that  all  true  men  are 
brothers,  whatever  be  the  differences  of  thought, 
belief,  condition  or  station  which  ordinarily  divide 
them.  And  friends,  and  brethren,  it  is  the  fundamen- 
tals that  we  are  facing  now,  you  and  I ;  that  which  is 


AMERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WAR        303 


fundamental  at  this  time  of  crisis  is  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  our  land  and  our  people. 

Though  you  be  Christian  and  I  be  Jew,  though 
some  have  come  from  England  and  some  from  Italy, 
though  others  hail  from  Germany  and  still  others 
from  Russia,  though  thousands  were  born  abroad 
and  other  thousands  were  born  on  this  soil,  still  here 
we  forget  the  religious  and  racial  differences — here 
we  are  neither  Englishmen  nor  Italians,  neither 
Geimans  nor  Russians — here  we  are  all  Americans, 
children  of  the  great  republic  whose  name  stirs  us 
as  with  a  trumpet  sound,  and  whose  high  ideals  of 
liberty  we  hold  aloft  as  oui  choicest  possession! 

But  I  have  heard  it  said  the  country  is  on  the 
brink  of  war,  and  should  not  the  collective  voice  of 
the  churches,  which  we  ministers  represent,  be  for 
peace?  The  country  has  wanted  war  as  little  as 
have  the  churches.  The  President  has  wanted  war 
as  little  as  my  brethren,  leaders  in  the  respective 
churches,  as  little  as  I.  We  know  the  horrois  of  war. 
We  know  the  blessings  of  peace.  But  even  those  of 
us  who  have  preached  peace  and  arbitration  all  our 
lives  know  that  there  is  a  difference  between  peace 
and  peace.  This  is  a  time  when  men  cry  peace,  but 
there  is  no  peace!  When  the  safety  of  my  home  is 
imperiled,  when  the  honor  of  my  family  is  endangered, 
I  may  be  forced  to  use  measures  to  protect  that 
safety  and  safeguard  that  honor  which  ordinarily 
I  abhor  and  detest.  So  in  the  larger  sense  the  safety 
of  my  country  and  the  honor  and  dignity  of  my  nation 
may  demand  that  I  approve  measures  forced  upon 
my  President  and  the  representatives  of  my  country 
which  in  a  former  day  I  found  repellent. 


304  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

In  that  position  we  find  ourselves  now.  We 
peace  advocates  of  the  churches  will  not  have  a  peace 
secured  at  the  cost  of  national  honor.  Peace  at  any 
price  may  spell  degeneracy.  It  is  not  because  the 
President  and  we  who  sympathize  with  him  love  peace 
less,  but  because  we  love  justice,  national  honor  and 
world  peace  more,  that  a  halt  must  be  cried  to  the 
imperious  dictation  of  Germany's  intolerable  course 
toward  our  country,  our  people  and  all  the  world. 

And  because  we  feel  this  we  are  here.  Not  to 
incite,  not  to  arouse  passions,  not  to  stir  up  hatred, 
no,  not  that,  but  to  declare  our  attitude  in  this  world 
conflict,  in  which  the  free  governments  of  the  world- 
England,  France,  Italy  and  Russia,  now  a  free  govern- 
ment, too,  God  be  praised!  are  championing  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  democracy  over  against  autocracy 
and  militarism,  the  curse  of  Germany,  and  which  will 
be  the  curse  of  the  world  should  Germany  triumph. 

America,  the  land  of  freedom,  when  the  test 
comes,  as  it  has  now  come,  must  range  herself  with  the 
forces  of  freedom.  Church  and  synagog,  cathedral 
and  temple,  have  gained  advantage  beyond  words 
from  the  freedom  which  we  here  enjoy.  Therefore  we 
are  here  united,  and  from  all  our  pulpits  in  church 
and  synagog,  in  cathedral  and  temple,  shall  ring  out 
words  of  high  devotion  to  our  nation  and  of  heartfelt 
prayer  for  our  country  like  unto  that  soulful  aspiration 
of  the  great  American  poet : 

'Our  hearts,  our  hopes  are  all  with  thee ; 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee,  are  all  with  thee!' 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE?* 

THE  statement  has  been  made  frequently  of  late 
years  that  the  modern  Germans  in  their  claim 
that  they  are  God's  chosen  people  are  the  latter  day 
counterpart  of  the  ancient  Jews,  who  are  thus  termed 
in  the  Bible.  Preachers  and  writers  in  Germany 
make  the  direct  comparison  in  unmistakable  terms  as 
when  one  of  these  preachers  declares  unreservedly: 
"As  was  Israel  among  the  heathen,  so  is  Germany 
among  the  nations,  the  pious  heart  of  Europe,"  and 
another  asserts  no  less  apodictically:  "In  a  moment 
we,  the  children  of  modern  humanity,  have  become 
the  heir  of  Israel,  the  people  of  the  Old  Testament . 
We  shall  be  the  bearers  of  God's  promises,  the  living 
proof  that  it  is  not  man  who  creates  history,  but 
God  through  man."  The  conviction  that  they  are 
the  chosen  people  of  these  latter  ages  has  become  a 
leading  article  of  German  belief;  it  has  imbued  the 
German  people  with  a  feeling  of  superiority  over  all 
other  nations;  they  have  become  obsessed  with  the 
idea  that  they  are  God's  favorites;  they  speak  of 
God  as  the  German  God,  implying  thereby  that  other 
peoples  are  without  the  pale  of  His  special  concern. 

It  is,  however,  not  only  Germans  who  have  insti- 
tuted the  comparison  between  themselves  and  ancient 
Israel  in  this  matter  of  being  God's  chosen  people 
but  leading  speakers  and  thinkers  in  other  lands , 

*Address  delivered  before  the  Business  Men's  Club,  Cin- 
cinnati, January  28,  1918. 

305 


306  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


when  discussing  the  state  of  the  modern  German 
mind,  are  fond  of  adducing  the  same  comparison.  It 
was  only  recently  that  I  heard  a  distinguished  Ameri- 
can professor  say  this  emphatically  and  without  modi- 
fication. As  I  listened  to  his  words  the  thought 
presented  itself  forcibly  to  my  mind  that  this  fre- 
quently reiterated  statement  could  and  should  be 
subjected  to  careful  examination.  For  I  felt  that 
this  comparison  was  superficial  and  far  from  the 
truth,  inasmuch  as  the  term  "chosen  people"  received 
entirely  different  interpretation  by  the  leading  spirits 
of  ancient  Israel,  namely  the  prophets,  from  that 
given  it  by  the  spokesmen  of  modern  Germany  as 
revealed  in  the  writings  and  utterances  of  the  foremost 
framers  of  opinion  in  that  realm  in  recent  days. 

Before  addressing  myself,  however,  to  the  special 
theme  under  consideration,  attention  must  be  called  to 
the  fact  that  the  "chosen  people"  idea  was  widespread 
in  ancient  days.  The  Jews  were  not  alone  in  con- 
sidering themselves  the  favorites  of  their  God.  Many, 
if  not  all,  nations  of  antiquity  looked  upon  themselves 
in  the  same  light.  Thus  the  neighboring  peoples 
of  ancient  Israel,  Moab  and  Ammon,  considered 
themselves  respectively  the  chosen  of  their  deities, 
Chemosh  on  the  one  hand  and  Milcom  on  the  other; 
the  Babylonians  held  the  belief  that  they  were  the 
chosen  favorites  of  Marduk,  the  chief  god  in  their 
pantheon;  and  so  with  other  peoples.  Each  of 
these  nations  considered  itself  the  favorite  of  its 
national  deity  who,  according  to  the  popular  belief, 
fought  on  its  side  in  war,  discomfited  its  enemies, 
showered  it  with  favors  and  distinguished  it  by  the 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       307 

grant  of  unusual  privileges,  to  the  disadvantage  of 
other  peoples.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  early 
days  the  Jews  shared  in  this  interpretation  of  what 
it  signified  to  be  God's  chosen  people.  But  with  the 
passing  of  time  a  different  meaning  was  read  into  the 
conception  by  those  soaring  spirits,  the  prophets  of 
Israel,  and  this  interpretation  of  the  idea  became 
paramount  in  the  course  of  the  development  of 
Judaism  during  the  centuries.  According  to  this 
new  evaluation  of  the  term,  Israel  was  chosen  not  for 
favors,  but  for  service.  The  great  prophet  of  the 
sixth  pre-Christian  century,  known  as  Isaiah  of 
Babylon,  denned  the  people  of  Israel  by  the  significant 
term,  "Servant  of  the  Lord."  This  prophet  brings 
out  this  thought  in  a  number  of  famous  passages  of 
which  I  need  quote  only  one.  Says  the  prophet  in 
the  name  of  God,  "Behold  My  servant  whom  I 
uphold,  Mine  elect  in  whom  My  soul  delighteth. 
I  have  put  My  spirit  upon  him,  he  shall  make  the 
right  go  forth  among  the  nations.  ...  I  the  Lord 
have  called  thee  in  righteousness  .  .  .  and  set  thee 
for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  for  a  light  of  the  nations, 
to  open  the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners 
from  the  dungeon  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  from 
the  prison  house."  (Isaiah  LXI:  1,  6  and  7.)  In 
this  striking  passage,  as  well  as  in  others  that  might 
be  quoted,  the  choice  is  interpreted  in  terms  of 
service.  Israel,  the  servant  of  the  Lord  and  upon 
whom  rested  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  was  chosen  for 
responsibilities,  not  for  privileges;  was  called  in 
righteousness,  that  is  to  promulgate  the  doctrine  of 
the  might  of  right,  or  as  it  was  put  by  a  brother 


308  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

prophet,  "Not  by  might  and  not  by  strength,  but 
by  My  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  And  in  this 
light  has  the  conception  of  the  chosen  people  been 
taken  by  the  leaders  of  the  synagogue  ever  since. 
In  the  prayers  God  is  thanked  for  having  chosen 
Israel  and  for  having  called  him  to  God's  service  that 
through  Israel,  sanctified  by  observing  God's  com- 
mandments, His  holy  name  might  be  known  in  all 
the  earth.  I  believe  I  may  state  without  fear  of 
contradiction  that  this  significance  first  attached  to  the 
"chosen  people"  idea  by  the  prophet  twenty-six  hun- 
dred years  ago,  as  applied  to  Israel,  is  now  generally 
accepted  by  authoritative  thinkers  among  Jews. 

How  different  the  interpretation  given  the  term  by 
the  molders  of  opinion  in  modern  Germany!  There 
is  the  widest  gap  between  the  interpretation  in  terms 
of  service  by  the  prophets  of  ancient  Israel  and  the 
interpretation  in  terms  of  power  and  favoritism  by 
the  prophets  of  modern  Germany.  We  find  in  this 
latter  a  reversion  to  the  old  idea  of  the  deity  choosing 
a  people  for  favors,  of  the  deity  fighting  on  the  side 
of  the  chosen,  of  the  deity  giving  victory  to  the  arms 
of  the  chosen.  What  is  the  Nietzschean  doctrine  of 
the  superman  but  this  belief  carried  to  the  nth 
degree?  What  are  the  paeans  sung  by  Houston 
Stewart  Chamberlain  and  his  like  on  the  supremacy 
of  the  blond  Teutonic  race  in  all  things,  but  a  variation 
of  this  same  belief?  What  is  the  boastful  claim  for 
the  superiority  of  German  Kultur  but  a  harping  on 
the  same  string?  Here  is  the  bald  and  frequently 
brutal  assertion  of  the  right  of  might,  the  motto  of 
the  warrior  nations  of  all  times,  not  the  teaching  of 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE      309 

the  might  of  right,  the  doctrine  of  the  prophets  of 
Israel,  the  founder  of  Christianity  and  all  the  highest 
spirits  of -humanity. 

Lest  it  appear  that  these  statements  are  made 
ex  parte,  I  will  let  loudly  acclaimed  modern  German 
leaders  and  prophets  speak  for  themselves.  So 
general  and  frequent  are  the  boastful  assertions  of 
German  superiority  to  all  others  that  it  has  been 
found  possible  to  compile  whole  volumes  of  excerpts 
from  the  writings  and  speeches  of  German  philoso- 
phers, preachers,  poets,  authors  and  men  of  affairs. 
Within  the  past  year  or  two  such  volumes  have  ap- 
peared under  titles  like  "Hallelujah  and  Hurrah!" 
"Out  of  Their  Own  Mouths,"  "Speaking  of  Prussians," 
"Made  in  Germany,"  "Gems  of  German  Thought" 
and  "Kultur  and  Conquest."  For  the  sake  of 
illustrating  my  special  theme,  namely,  the  setting 
forth  of  the  contrast  between  the  prophetic  Jewish 
conception  of  service  as  the  obligation  of  the  chosen 
people  and  the  modern  German  conception  of  force, 
I  will  select  a  few  out  of  the  many  striking  expressions 
wherewith  the  writings  of  Treitzschke,  Bernhardi, 
Chamberlain,  Nietzsche,  Tannenberg,  Lasson,  Som- 
bert,  et  hoc  genus  omne,  teem. 

The  first  time  that  the  term  chosen  people  is 
applied  to  Israel  in  the  Bible  is  in  the  nineteenth 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Exodus,  introductory  to  the 
giving  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  humanity's 
magna  charta  of  morality.  We  there  read,  "If  ye 
will  hearken  to  My  voice  indeed  and  keep  My 
covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  Mine  own  treasure  from 
among  all  peoples,  and  ye  shall  be  to  Me  a  kingdom 


310  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 


of  priests  and  a  holy  nation."  (Exodus  XIX:  5.) 
In  other  words,  they  would  be  a  chosen  people  if 
they  would  keep  God's  covenant,  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, the  great  charter  which  was  entrusted  to  them. 
Modern  Germany's  prophet  has  given  us  a  new 
version  of  the  Commandments  that  offers  a  remark- 
able contrast  to  this  conception.  In  the  book  which 
is  generally  considered  as  containing  the  ripest 
flowering  of  his  thought,  "Thus  Spake  Zarathustra," 
Nietzsche  has  a  chapter  entitled  "Old  and  New 
Tables."  The  old  tables  are  to  be  discarded,  the 
new,  containing  his  reading  of  the  moral  life,  are  to 
take  their  place.  Hear  some  of  this  new  doctrine. 

"Do  you  say  it  is  a  good  cause  by  which  a  war  is  hallowed? 
I  say  unto  you,  it  is  a  good  war  which  hallows  every  cause. 
War  and  courage  have  done  greater  things  than  the  love 
of  one's  neighbor.  .  .  .Be  not  considerate  of  thy  neighbor. 
What  thou  doest  can  no  one  do  to  thee  again.  Lo,  there  is 
no  requital .... 'Thou  shalt  not  steal!'  'Thou  shalt  not 
kill!'  Such  precepts  were  once  called  holy.  Is  there  not 
even  in  all  life  stealing  and  killing?  And  for  such  precepts 
to  be  called  holy,  was  not  truth  itself  slain  thereby? .... 
This  new  table,  O  my  brethren,  put  I  up  over  you,  'Become 
hard!" 

Here  modern  Germany's  prophet,  the  creator  of 
the  conception  of  the  superman,  out  of  which  has 
grown  the  thought  of  the  Germans  as  the  super 
people,  gives  a  new  reading  not  only  to  the  Command- 
ments, but  also  to  that  consummate  expression  of 
Jesus'  teaching,  the  Golden  Rule.  Jesus  said,  "Do 
unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  to  you;" 
Zarathustra  Nietzsche  says,  "Be  not  considerate  cf 
thy  neighbor.  What  thou  doest  can  no  one  do  to 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       311 

thee  again.  Lo,  there  is  no  requital."  And  for  the 
old  tables  containing  such  commands  as  "Thou  shalt 
not  kill!"  "Thou  shalt  not  steal!"  he  substitutes  his 
new  table,  "Become  hard!"  For  him  and  for  his 
disciples,  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Golden 
Rule  are  outgrown.  They  were  for  slaves.  One  of 
Nietzsche's  favorite  terms  is  "Slave  morality,"  as 
applied  to  the  moral  teachings  of  Judaism  and 
Christianity.  Truly  a  vast  contrast!  According  to 
the  older  prophets,  the  observance  of  the  Command- 
ments and  the  implied  service  to  humanity  was  the 
prime  condition  towards  becoming  the  chosen  people! 
According  tc  the  newer  prophet  of  Germany  this 
observance  made  slaves,  not  a  chosen  people!  For 
the  latter  the  new  commandment,  "Become  hard," 
expresses  the  latest  revelation.  Fully  indeed  has  this 
new  reading  of  the  commandments  been  accepted 
by  the  military  masters  of  Germany  who  are  directing 
the  destinies  of  this  people  and  whose  diabolical 
course  has  brought  upon  the  world  the  greatest 
disaster  of  all  the  ages  through  the  unspeakable  deeds 
of  the  German  soldiery  in  the  lands  which  they  have 
overrun!  That  Nietzsche's  teaching  has  not  been 
permitted  to  remain  mere  theory,  but  has  been  there 
translated  into  inhuman  practices,  is  clearly  apparent. 
How  completely  this  revelation  given  through 
Nietzsche  has  become  the  rule  of  action  of  the  military 
party  appears  from  a  soldier's  rendering  of  that 
teaching.  Even  more  brutally,  if  that  were  possible, 
General  Von  der  Goltz  expresses  this  new  rendering 
of  the  commandments,  when  in  his  "Ten  Command- 
ments of  the  German  Soldiei"  he  says: 


312  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

"War  is  not  a  work  of  charity  and  in  the  soldier's  heart 
there  is  no  compassion.  The  soldier  must  be  hard.  It  is 
better  to  let  a  hundred  women  and  children  belonging  to 
the  enemy  die  of  hunger  than  to  let  a  single  German  soldier 
suffer." 

Truly  a  worthy  disciple  of  the  prophet!  The 
soldier!  The  soldier!  he  is  supreme.  One  hundred 
women  and  children  are  of  no  account  in  comparison 
with  him.  Humanity  is  thrown  to  the  winds. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the  philosopher  who 
has  exerted  such  a  tremendous  influence  in  shaping  the 
thought  of  modern  Germany  and  in  producing  the 
modern  German  state  of  mind  has  placed  a  new 
valuation  not  only  on  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
supreme  teaching  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  also 
upon  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  outstanding 
teaching  of  the  New  Testament.  Hear  this  new 
interpretation  of  one  of  the  famous  beatitudes: 

We  have  heard  it  said,  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  but 
I  say  unto  you,  Blessed  are  the  war-makers,  for  they  shall 
be  called,  if  not  the  children  of  Jahveh,  then  the  children  of 
Odin,  who  is  greater  than  Jahveh. 

Once  again  might  against  right,  force  against  love, 
war  against  peace! 

Nietzsche  has  many  disciples  besides  the  general 
just  named,  who  repeated  in  almost  identical  words 
the  new  commandment  for  the  direction  of  life, 
"Become  hard."  Militarism  is  the  German  cult. 
It  is  the  practical  outcome  of  the  notion  of  the 
teaching  of  the  will  to  power  and  the  conquering 
might  of  force  so  constantly  urged  by  Nietzsche. 
All  these  things  hang  together.  The  might  of  their 
militarism  is  the  proof  to  the  Germans  that  they 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE      313 

are  the  chosen  people.  They  will  impose  their  will 
upon  all  weaker  peoples.  They  will  take  what  they 
want.  Nothing  which  stands  in  the  way  of  the 
accomplishment  of  desire  must  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Treaties  are  only  scraps  of  paper, 
Small  nations  have  no  rights  which  must  be  respected. 
"Might  is  the  supreme  right  and  the  dispute  as  to 
what  is  right  is  decided  by  the  arbitrament  of  war," 
declares  Bernhardi.  If  Belgium  obstructs  the  path, 
it  is  Germany's  right  to  invade  and  steal  Belgium, 
to  sack  Belgian  cities,  destroy  Belgian  seats  of 
learning,  burn,  outrage,  plunder,  kill;  the  right  of 
the  strong  is  the  last  word;  hear  it  again,  "Might  is 
the  supreme  right."  This,  the  slogan  of  the  latter 
day  chosen  people,  as  "right  is  the  supreme  might," 
was  the  watchword  of  the  ancient  prophet,  for 
Bernhardi  has  learned  well  the  lessons  of  Germany's 
acclaimed  historian,  Henirich  von  Treitzschke,  the 
interpreter  of  the  blood  and  iron  theory  of  history; 
one  of  Treitzschke's  leading  theses  is  expressed  in 
the  phrase,  "The  small  nations  have  no  right  of 
existence  and  ought  to  be  swallowed  up."  Carrying 
out  this  instruction  of  th<  interpreter  of  history  a  la 
German  militarism,  Bernhardi  declaies  flatly:  "The 
Germans  must,  regardless  of  the  rights  and  interests 
of  other  peoples,  fight  their  way  to  predominance  and 
force  upon  humanity  German  Kultui  and  spirit." 
But  I  hear  it  said  by  apologists  that  these  expressions 
of  Von  der  Goltz,  Bernhardi,  and  their  kind,  horrible 
as  they  are,  are  to  be  expected  from  soldiers  and 
militarists.  Their  training  had  distorted  their  point 
of  view.  War  is  their  business  and  they  look  at  all 
things  through  that  glass. 


314  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

Little  as  such  an  apology  avails  to  excuse  the  in- 
human, brutal  and  savage  expressions  of  militray 
writers  and  still  more  savage  deeds  of  military 
commanders,  still  even  it  loses  all  force  when  it 
becomes  clear  that  men  in  civil  life,  men  occupying 
high  posts  in  the  professional  world,  even  professors 
in  universities,  preachers  in  churches,  authors  in 
literary  circles,  give  voice  to  similar  sentiments. 
These  well  nigh  incredible  things  explain  the  state  of 
mind  of  the  German  people.  Their  professors,  their 
preachers,  their  writers  are  teaching,  preaching  and 
expounding  the  same  doctrines  as  the  militarists, 
the  doctrine  that  the  Germans  are  the  chosen  people , 
the  doctrine  of  the  right  of  might,  the  doctrine  of 
German  superiority  to  all  the  world.  These  germs 
have  inoculated  the  German  people,  they  have  learned 
well  the  lesson  dinned  into  them  for  the  past  thirty 
years  and  more  in  school  and  church.  It  is  all  a  part 
of  the  system.  Teachers  and  professors  are  de- 
pendents of  the  military  state  and  uphold  its  doc- 
trines. Preachers  are  the  appointees  of  the  state  for 
the  church  is  a  state  church.  This  explains  such 
strange  phenomena  which  startled  the  world  as  the 
declaration  issued  by  ninety-three  professors  shortly 
after  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1914,  some  of  them 
among  the  most  famed  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in 
the  world,  like  Harnack,  Eucken,  Deissmann  and 
others  equally  distinguished,  in  which  declaration 
these  men  defended  and  vindicated  the  course  of 
Germany,  and  that  other  document  of  June  30,  1915, 
touching  the  status  of  Belgium,  signed  by  over  a 
thousand  professors,  clergymen,  judges,  writers,  etc., 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE      315 

in  which  it  is  stated,  "We  must  keep  Belgium  firmly 
in  our  hands  as  regards  political  and  military  matters 
and  as  regards  economic  interests.  In  no  matter  is 
the  German  nation  more  united  in  its  opinion; 
to  it  the  retention  of  Belgium  is  an  indubitable 
matter  of  honor."  Such  perversion  of  the  right 
seems  scarcely  credible.  Stolen,  outraged  Belgium 
must  be  retained!  That  perversion  is  the  direct 
result  of  the  training  the  German  people  had  received 
from  its  teachers,  professors,  preachers,  writers  and 
journalists  under  the  direction  and  guidance  of  its 
military  masters.  How  direct,  how  unequivocal  that 
teaching  was  shall  now  appear  from  a  few  examples 
selected  from  a  great  number  that  might  be  adduced. 
Let  a  professor  speak.  Werner  Sombart  has  come 
to  be  well  known  in  this  country  through  his  books 
on  the  history  of  commerce  and  other  economic 
works;  his  writings  have  had  a  great  vogue  in  his 
native  land.  He  gave  utterance  in  1915  to  the  simon 
pure  belief  of  the  German  people  in  its  destiny  as  the 
chosen  people  in  these  modest  terms: 

"As  the  emblem  of  the  Germans  the  eagle  soars  high 
above  all  the  birds  of  the  world,  so  the  German  should  feel 
himself  raised  above  all  the  peoples  who  surround  him  and 
whom  he  sees  at  an  immeasurable  depth  below  him.  Here 
also  it  is  true  that  nobility  implies  obligations.  The  idea 
that  we  are  the  chosen  people  imposes  upon  us  very  great 
duties — and  only  duties.  Above  all  things  we  must  maintain 
ourselves  as  a  strong  nation.  We  are  determined  to  be  and 
to  r  main  a  strong  German  nation  and  a  strong  German 
state  and ...  if  it  is  necessary  to  extend  our  territorial  pos- 
sessions so  that  the  increasing  body  of  the  nation  shall  have 
room  to  develop  itself,  we  will  take  for  ourselves  as  much 
territory  as  seems  to  us  necessary.  We  shall  also  set  our 


316  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

foot  wherever  it  seems  to  us  important  for  strategic  reasons 
in  order  to  preserve  our  unassailable  strength.  That  is 
all!" 

That  is  all!  Take  it  or  leave  it!  These  words 
explain  the  actions  of  the  bully  among  nations! 
We  will  seize  by  our  strong  right  arm  what  we  need! 
Here  is  the  new  meaning  of  the  chosen  people  a  la 
Teutonic  militarism.  Not  one  word  of  service  as 
the  obligation  of  the  chosen  people.  Said  the  ancient 
Jewish  prophet  of  Israel's  duty  as  the  elect  of  God : 
"He  shall  make  the  right  go  forth  according  to  the 
truth;"  declares  the  modern  German  professor  as 
the  supreme  duty  imposed  upon  the  Germans  as 
the  chosen  people,  "Above  all  things  in  the  world,  we 
must  maintain  ourselves  as  a  strong  nation.  We  are 
determined  to  be  and  remain  a  strong  German  nation 
and  a  strong  German  state."  Look  on  this  picture 
and  on  that! 

Let  the  professor  speak  again,  and  this  time  the 
eminent  Biblical  scholar  whom  in  the  pre-bellum  days 
students  everywhere  looked  up  to  as  speaking  with 
authority  in  his  chosen  field,  Adolf  Deissmann.  In 
an  address  on  War  and  Religion,  this  great  scholar, 
who  as  the  apologist  for  the  scandalous  acts  of  the 
militaristic  regime,  has  shamed  his  former  reputation, 
used  these  astounding  words: 

"The  French  Ambassador  in  London  is  understood  to 
have  said  at  a  banquet  that  so-called  scholars  and  professors, 
have  preached  the  religion  of  barbarism.  His  words — 
I  venture  that  paradox — pretty  nearly  express  my  thought. 
What  people  beyond  the  channel  call  barbarism  history  will 
some  day  call  primitive  strength.  In  this  age  which  has 
witnessed  the  most  gigantic  mobilization  of  physical  and 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       317 

mental  forces  which  the  world  has  ever  seen,  we  certainly 
proclaim — no,  it  is  not  we  who  proclaim  it,  but  it  reveals 
itself — the  religion  of  power." 

We  rub  our  eyes.  Have  we  read  correctly?  Is  it 
possible  that  a  cultured  man  of  the  twentieth  century 
has  pronounced  such  words?  This  unashamed  de- 
fense of  a  shameful  position  is  inexpressibly  painful. 
To  such  a  depth  hast  thou  caused  a  great  mind  to 
fall,  O  German  militarism!  This  is  German  Kultur! 
Yes,  we  proudly  say  it,  there  is  a  vast  gulf  between 
what  we  call  culture  and  what  the  German  professor 
dubs  Kultur! 

What  the  French  Ambassador  whom  Deissmann 
quotes  refers  to  is  the  above  mentioned  declaration 
signed  by  the  ninety-three  leading  professors  and 
scholars,  of  whom  Deissmann  was  one.  Far  from 
repudiating  this  historic  document  whereof  some  day 
when  Germany  will  come  to  her  senses  she  will  be 
heartily  ashamed,  this  professor  glorifies  it.  He 
glories  in  the  shame!  Degradation  cannot  go  much 
further!  He  speaks  of  the  mobilization  of  physical 
and  mental  forces,  but  he  significantly  omits  mention 
of  the  spiritual  forces.  Yes,  Germany  is  physically 
and  intellectually  powerful,  but  spiritually,  oh,  how 
weak!  Once  more  let  me  contrast  the  modern  German 
professor  in  his  definition  of  the  religion  of  his  people 
as  the  chosen  people  with  the  ancient  prophet. 
Says  the  modern  German  professor,  "We  certainly 
proclaim  the  religion  of  power;"  says  the  ancient 
Jewish  prophet  in  his  further  definition  of  Israel  as 
the  servant  of  the  Lord,  "A  bruised  reed  he  will  not 
break  and  a  dimly  burning  wick  he  will  not  quench," 


318  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

and  in  the  same  spirit  that  other  great  prophet  of 
Jewish  birth  and  training,  the  founder  of  Christianity, 
declared,  "Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth." 

Now  that  the  professors  have  been  heard  through 
their  representatives,  I  would  call  to  the  witness  chair 
a  representative  of  writers  whose  books  have  gained 
great  popularity.  In  a  recent  article  entitled  "Eco- 
nomic Imperialism,"  in  the  Century  Magazine  for 
July,  1917,  David  Jayne  Hill,  our  former  Ambassador 
to  Germany,  refers  to  the  widespread  vogue  of  a  book 
by  Otto  Richard  Von  Tannenberg.  The  book  is 
named  "Grossdeutschland"  and  appeared  in  1911; 
thousands  and  thousands  of  copies  were  sold.  This 
popular  author  throws  further  light  upon  the  subject 
we  are  considering  when  he  speaks  thus  of  Germany's 
mission: 

"A  policy  of  sentiment  is  folly.  Enthusiasm  for  humanity 
is  idiocy.  Charity  should  begin  among  one's  compatriots. 
Politics  is  business.  Right  and  wrong  are  notions  needed 
in  civil  life  only.  The  German  people  is  always  right, 
because  it  is  the  German  people,  and  because  it  numbers 
87,000,000.  Our  fathers  have  left  us  much  to  do!"  And 
again:  "The  period  of  preparation  lasted  for  a  long  time 
(1871-1911) — forty  years  of  toil  on  land  and  sea,  the  end 
constantly  in  view.  The  need  now  is  to  begin  the  battle, 
to  vanquish  and  to  conquer;  to  gain  new  territories;  lands 
for  colonization  for  the  German  peasants,  fathers  of  fi  ture 
warriors  and  for  the  future  conquests. ..  .'Peace'  is  a 
detestable  word;  peace  between  Germans  and  Slavs  is  like 
a  treaty  made  on  paper,  between  water  and  fire.  .  .  .Since 
we  have  the  force,  we  have  not  to  seek  reasons." 

If  anything,  these  statements  are  even  more  direct 
and  unabashed  than  the  words  of  the  professors. 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       319 


No  equivocation  here!  What  arrogance!  "The  Ger- 
man people  is  always  right,  because  it  is  the  German 
people!"  What  knock-down  arguments!  "Since  we 
have  the  force,  we  have  not  to  seek  reasons!"  Always 
force!  always  power!  Who  can  doubt  that  in  his 
brutal  frankness  this  writer  expresses  the  true  in- 
wardness of  the  modern  German  militaristic  mind. 
For  German  militarism,  peace  is  a  detestable  word, 
unless  it  be  a  German  peace;  the  forty  years  of  prepa- 
ration had  as  their  purpose  the  exploitation  of  the 
weak,  the  conquest  of  the  unprepared,  the  rape  of 
neighboring  lands.  The  voice  of  the  war  guns  thun- 
dered at  unsuspecting  Liege  and  Namur;  the  tramp, 
tramp  of  the  grey  German  hosts  resounded  on  Belgian 
roads  and  in  Belgian  streets;  they  struck  quickly, 
they  struck  violently,  because  they  had  the  power. 
Contrast  once  more  the  clash  of  warfare  which 
German  militarism  let  loose  in  1914  and  which  has 
made  the  European  war  zone  a  hell  on  earth  ever  since, 
with  the  ancient  prophet's  characterization  of  Israel 
as  the  chosen  people:  "He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up 
nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in  the  streets."  The 
war  cry,  the  battle  din  marks  the  chosen  according  to 
the  apostle  of  force,  the  quiet  ministrations  of  the 
gentle  servant  of  the  Lord  is  the  prophet's  delineation. 
The  list  of  witnesses  would  not  be  complete  unless 
we  heard  from  those  who  have  a  particular  right  to 
speak  when  the  topic  is  one  which  has  always  had  a 
religious  connotation.  From  earliest  times  the  thought 
of  the  chosen  people  has  been  connected  with  the 
Deity.  The  choice  is  made  by  God.  Therefore  it  is 
necessary  to  let  be  heard  the  interpreters  of  religion 


320  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

as  made  in  modern  Germany.  These  preachers  are 
the  mouthpieces  of  the  state  church.  They  uphold 
the  state  in  all  its  enterprises.  That  they  believe 
what  they  preach  I  have  not  the  least  doubt.  That 
their  congregations  also  believe  it  there  can  be  no 
question.  This  too  largely  contributes  to  what  I 
termed  above  the  German  state  of  mind.  This 
German  state  of  mind  is  the  most  serious  feature  of  the 
whole  terrible  situation.  This  is  what  the  Allies 
are  really  fighting  against.  Until  this  state  of  mind 
is  changed,  German  militarism  will  remain  in- 
trenched. Every  agency  has  been  employed  by  the 
war  lords  who  occupy  Germany's  seats  of  the  mighty 
to  produce  this  state  of  mind  and  admirably  have  they 
succeeded,  for  they  have  enlisted  as  their  missionaries 
not  only  the  school  and  the  press,  but  also  the  church. 
In  a  war  sermon  delivered  in  1915,  the  Rev.  Walter 
Lehmann  asked  his  hearers: 

"Am  I  exaggerating  when  I  say  that  we  feel  at  the  present 
time,  when  lying,  passion,  selfishness  prevail  around  us, 
that  we  are  actually  the  people  God  has  chosen  for  his  heirs, 
feel  ourselves  in  this  fight,  if  not  the  chosen  people — yet, 
in  all  humility — the  instrument  of  God?  This  the  secret 
strong  well-spring  of  the  national  movement  is  a  kind  of 
German  piety.  The  German  God  has  become  living." 

And  expatiating  further  on  this  idea  of  the  Ger- 
man God,  he  says  in  another  place: 

"We  have  God  on  our  side.  Can  the  Russians,  the  French, 
the  Serbians,  the  English  say  this?  No,  not  one  of  them. 
Only  we  Germans  can  say  it.  If  God  is  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us?  It  is  enough  for  us  to  be  a  part  of  God.  .  .  .A 
nation  which  is  God's  seed  corn  for  the  future ....  Germany 
is  the  center  of  God's  plan  for  the  world ....  God  and 
Germany  belong  to  each  other." 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE      321 

As  one  reads  these  and  similar  utterances  by  Ger- 
man preachers,  one  must  fain  ask  himself,  has  the 
world  gone  backward  thousands  of  years?  Hebrew 
prophets,  Christian  apostles,  men  of  light  and  leading 
among  all  nations  in  all  parts  of  the  world  have 
taught  for  centuries  that  God  is  the  Father  of  all 
mankind.  Here  all  this  is  thrown  overboard,  the 
crudest  nationalistic  doctrine  about  God  is  preached. 
A  German  God,  what  a  limitation  of  the  Lord  of  all 
the  universe!  True,  in  ancient  Israel,  God  was  first 
regarded  as  the  God  of  Israel  only,  but  that  was 
thousands  of  years  ago;  later  in  Israel  the  prophets 
arose,  who  conceived  God  as  the  God  of  all  the  earth, 
the  Father  of  all  men.  Such,  too,  was  the  teaching 
of  the  founder  of  Christianity,  and  such  surely  has 
been  the  preachment  in  all  places  in  this  western 
world  for  many  years.  And  now  this  reversion  in 
Germany.  The  German  God!  Not  the  God  of  all 
the  nations. 

But  Lehmann  stands  not  alone  in  his  frenzied 
exaltation  of  the  German  people  as  the  chosen  people 
and  as  the  especial  favorites  of  the  German  God. 
A  brother  preacher,  creature  also  of  the  state  church, 
bound  to  uphold  the  militaristic  system  and  policy, 
the  Rev.  J.  Rump,  waxes  enthusiastic  on  the  subject 
of  German  glory  in  this  strain:  "It  has  long  been  an 
honor  and  a  joy,  a  source  of  renown  to  be  a  German — 
the  year  1914  has  made  it  a  title  of  nobility.  What 
Geibel  once  prophesied  in  the  distich1  so  often  quoted, 
now  can  and  shall  and  must  at  last  become  a  reality 

1  Und  es  mag  am  deutschem  Wesen,  Einmal  noch  die  Welt 
genesen. 


322  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

in  the  life  of  nations  that  by  the  German  nature, 
that  nature  blessed  by  the  grace  and  hallowed  by  the 
spirit  of  God,  shall  the  whole  world  be  healed." 
And  this  after  the  rape  of  Belgium!  This  after  the 
indescribable  outrages  in  France!  What  word  but 
blasphemy  can  fitly  describe  such  an  utterance  from 
a  spot  called  holy?  And  what  shall  be  said  of  the 
outburst  of  Pastor  D.  Baumgarten,  another  of  these 
preacher  panegyrists  of  the  murderers  of  the  innocent , 
the  militarists  of  Germany,  a  man  who  debased  the 
pulpit  by  singing  the  praises  of  the  assassins  of 
the  deep  in  these  startling  words: 

"Any  one  who  cannot  bring  himself  to  approve  from  the 
bottom  of  his  heart  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania.  .  .and 
give  himself  up  to  honest  joy  at  this  victorious  exploit  of 
German  defensive  power — such  a  one  we  deem  no  true 
German." 

But  enough!  enough!  To  depths  of  infamy  indeed 
has  a  church  sunk,  accredited  representatives  of 
which  can  thus  glorify  murder.  Such  an  utterance, 
coupled  with  the  official  governmental  act  of  striking 
Lusitania  medals,  are  to  us  indeed  incomprehensible. 
To  this  pass  has  militarism  brought  this  people. 
Madness  possesses  these  Germans.  Or  else  they 
would  not  dare  pride  themselves  on  being  the  chosen 
people.  Chosen  people!  Nay,  nay.  In  spite  of  all 
their  achievements  in  science,  industry,  manufacture, 
mental  research  and  intellectual  investigation,  they 
are  barbarians.  Their  greatest  man,  Goethe,  had  a 
truer  insight  into  the  Geiman  nature  than  have  the 
ecclesiastical  and  professional  panegyrists  whose  words 
we  have  heard.  Well  nigh  one  hundred  years  ago 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       323 

Goethe,  in  one  of  his  conversations  with  Eckermann, 

said: 

"The  Germans  are  of  yesterday.  No  doubt  in  the  last  one 
hundred  years  we  have  been  cultivating  ourselves  quite 
diligently,  but  it  may  take  a  few  centuries  more  before  our 
countrymen  have  absorbed  sufficient  intellect  and  higher 
culture  for  it  to  be  said  of  them  that  it  is  a  long  time  since 
they  were  barbarians." 

It  is  almost  a  century  since  Goethe  thus  expressed 
himself;  he  claimed  that  a  few  centuries  would  have 
to  pass  before  the  Germans  would  have  definitely 
left  barbarism  behind  them.  They  have  not  yet 
done  so.  Scratch  the  German  militarist  and  you 
find  the  barbarian.  A  chosen  people!  No,  no; 
rather  a  barbarous  people!  Goethe,  we  thank  thee 
for  that  correct  diagnosis. 

And  now  just  one  testimonial  more.  The  all-highest, 
the  supreme  war  lord,  the  head  and  front  of  the 
offending  which  has  plunged  a  world  into  deepest  woe, 
even  the  Kaiser,  who  in  view  of  the  horrors  which 
have  resulted  from  his  act  in  precipitating  the  war, 
has  been  well  termed  the  greatest  criminal  of  the 
ages,  gave  classical  expression  to  the  doctrine  we 
have  been  considering,  when  in  his  proclamation  to 
the  army  of  the  east  in  1914  he  adjured  his  warriors 
thus: 

"Remember  that  you  are  the  chosen  people!  The  spirit 
of  the  Lord  has  descended  upon  me  because  I  am  the  Em- 
peror of  the  Germans.  1  am  the  instrument  of  the  Almighty. 
I  am  his  sword,  I  am  his  agent.  War  and  death  to  all 
those  who  shall  oppose  my  will.  War  and  death  to  those 
who  oppose  my  mission.  Let  them  perish,  all  the  enemies 
of  the  German  people.  God  demands  their  destruction, 
God  who  by  my  mouth  bids  you  to  do  his  will!" 


324  CENTENARY  PAPERS  AND  OTHERS 

And  this  in  the  twentieth  Christian  century! 
We  shudder  at  this  blasphemy!  It  is  doubtful  whether 
any  more  frightful  word  fell  from  the  lips  of  even  the 
most  barbarous  monarchs  of  the  twentieth  pre- 
Christian  century.  And  this  man  believes  himself 
to  be  the  divinely  appointed  ruler  of  the  German 
people,  and  the  German  people  assents!  Such  is 
his  conception  of  the  chosen  people!  Such  the  con- 
ception of  all  his  myrmidons  in  the  army,  the  uni- 
versity, the  church,  the  public  prints.  No  word  here 
of  service  for  humanity — only  German  expansion, 
German  exaltation,  German  glory!  Power,  power, 
power!  Might,  Might,  might! 

This  is  the  kernel  of  the  situation  with  which  the 
world  is  confronted.  As  long  as  a  nation  believes  as 
does  the  German  people  that  it  was  chosen  to  impose 
its  will  upon  the  world  and  to  become  the  world's 
master  by  force,  so  long  is  the  world  in  danger. 
To  combat  this  danger,  America  entered  the  war. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  in  one  of  his  re- 
markable addresses  to  Congress  stigmatized  this 
German  militarism  by  the  term  "Thing,"  as  though 
it  were  a  monster  incapable  of  other  designation. 
And  such  indeed  it  is.  He  declared  that  this  thing 
must  be  removed  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  To  help 
to  so  remove  it  is  America's  purpose.  To  my  mind 
the  day  on  which  America  allied  herself  with  the 
nations  of  Europe  who  are  fighting  for  the  world's 
freedom  ranks  with  that  most  glorious  moment  when 
the  embattled  farmers  of  New  England  fired  the 
shot  heard  'round  the  world.  America  is  fighting 
not  for  her  own  glory,  but  for  an  ideal;  not  for  terri- 


ARE  THE  GERMANS  THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE       325 

tory  nor  indemnity,  but  to  make  the  world  safe  for 
democracy  and  democracy  safe  for  the  world.  Proud 
are  we  of  our  country,  not  because  we  are  the  greatest 
of  the  world's  republics,  not  because  of  our  wide 
territory  or  our  unexampled  prosperity,  not  because 
of  our  tremendous  riches  or  our  mighty  possibilities, 
not  because  of  our  mines  and  our  mills,  our  factories 
and  our  shops,  but  proud  are  we  because  our  country 
has  again  found  her  soul,  because  in  this  extremest 
crisis  that  the  cause  of  the  world's  freedom  has  ever 
known,  in  this  dark  hour  when  the  mailed  fist  of 
militarism  is  casting  its  dire  shadow  over  a  greater 
extent  of  Europe's  surface  than  this  generation  has 
ever  known,  she  has  stepped  into  the  breach  and  has 
answered  the  call  that  through  all  the  ages  has  ccme 
to  the  truly  chosen.  I  have  the  firm  conviction  that 
just  as  in  the  prophet's  vision  Israel  of  old  was  chosen 
and  called  for  service,  so  in  this  latest  age  of  the 
world's  history  this  nation  has  been  called  for  service, 
this  nation  has  been  chosen.  I  hear  the  words  of 
the  Lord  speaking  to  America  through  the  prophet 
even  as  He  spake  to  ancient  Israel:  "I  the  Lord  have 
called  thee  in  righteousness  and  have  taken  hold  of 
thy  hand  and  kept  thee  and  set  thee  for  a  covenant 
of  the  peoples,  for  a  light  of  the  nations;  to  open  the 
blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  dungeon 
and  those  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison 
house." 


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